Revenge Of The Hybrids
by Clare
Summary: In this fic, which I cowrote with a bunch of fellow Pokemon fans, a group of human Pokemon hybrids decide to get revenge on the organisation which transformed them
1. Chapter One

_This is another story I co-wrote with a a bunch of other authors, although it wasn't written at the same place as my other collaborative works. However, as before, I wrote the passages for one of the characters (Alana) and edited the rest for spelling, punctuation, grammar and sentence structure. _

The rest of the authors and the characters they wrote as are:

Garagara: Matt  
SuperSeviper: James  
CrystalEspeon: Crystal  
Renegade: Heather  
Chaos: Jason  
Damian the Duck: Zeod  
Raposa Dalua: Atsuko

There were a couple of other people who signed up, but they never actually contributed anything, although I did keep their characters. This was a joint venture between the eight of us - I compiled it because I was the one who had the idea for it in the first place.

**

Chapter One

**

**Alana**

I looked in the mirror, staring at a face that was no longer my own. The reflection showed a being that resembled a cross between a human and a Mightyena; the bone structure was still recognisably human, but the eyes were red, there was a black triangular mark next to each one and the nose was black and moist like a real Mightyena's. I looked at my hair, which had once been auburn but was now jet black with a hint of grey at the top.

I, Alana Willis, was a hybrid. I hadn't always been one; once, I was a fully human trainer on a Pokemon journey. I'd completed the Pokemon League in my homeland of Johto and had decided to look for new challenges for myself and my Pokemon. But, whereas most Johtoese trainers travel to Kanto when they've finished with their own Pokemon League (and vice versa) I elected to venture further afield, to Hoenn. So I travelled to Lavaridge Town, where one of my aunts lived, and began my Hoenn League quest from there. Soon, with a little help from my Sealeo and Combusken, I was the proud owner of a Heat Badge. After that, I moved on to Petalburg and earned the Balance Badge.

It was when I went to Rustboro to try for the Stone Badge that my life changed forever. I'd barely entered the city when two guys ambushed me and rammed a needle into my arm. It must have contained some sort of drug because, the next thing I knew, I was in some sort of laboratory. Not only that, I had been injected with Mightyena DNA . . .

That was why my face had changed, why my fingers had claws instead of fingernails, why I had a black furry tail sticking out of my backside. Because this group called Proteus had some crackpot idea about creating an invincible army, an army of people who could use Pokemon Attacks. The DNA injections they gave us enabled us to use the Attacks of the Pokemon concerned, but they also caused us to take on the physical characteristics of that Pokemon.

I sighed and pulled away from the mirror. There were ten of us in this place, ten ordinary humans who had been turned into freaks by an organisation hungry for power . . . Well, actually, there were supposed to be fourteen, seven males and seven females, but four of the girls managed to escape one night. The agents spent weeks looking for them, but no trace was ever found. Maybe, they managed to get away - at least I hoped they had. But where could a bunch of hybrids go without arousing suspicion?

Anyway, after that, Proteus clamped down on security. None of the remaining hybrids was allowed out of their facility; our world consisted of our cells, the canteen and the training area where we had our developing Pokemon abilities tested. I had been here for eighteen months and I was beginning to think I'd never get out, that I would be a prisoner of Proteus for the rest of my life.

Just then, however, a voice came over the intercom. "Alana Willis, report to the training area! Alana Willis . . ."

I sighed and headed off down the corridor. This was part of life here; they would make us train for hours on end, forcing us to perfect our Attacks. Anyone would have thought we were fully Pokemon, except no decent trainer I knew would have pushed their Pokemon as far as Proteus pushed us. I certainly never pushed my Pokemon . . . I paused, thinking of the Pokemon I had trained - Combusken, Ivysaur, Sealeo, Jolteon, Pidgeot and Ariados - the Pokemon I hadn't seen since I ended up here.

Walking along the corridor, I noticed a few of the other hybrids. A Nidoking boy was talking to an Espeon girl and a Gengar boy, but I couldn't quite hear what they were saying. That was hardly surprising, however; as I was a Mightyena hybrid, my senses had become pretty sharp so people tended to lower their voices to keep me from overhearing private conversations. I was used to my heightened senses now, but, in the beginning, I thought I would go crazy if I had to endure it for too long. Still, at least I hadn't received the DNA of a Psychic Pokemon . . .

This place was my home - and my prison. There was mesh on all the windows and the building was located behind a high fence. No-one who was not involved with Proteus was allowed in and we hybrids were not allowed out; Number 1 (as the mysterious head of the organisation was known) didn't want his little secret to become public knowledge. That was why security was so rigorous, especially after the last escape. Sometimes, I longed to follow those four girls, but would I ever find the courage or have the opportunity?

But little did I know that fate would soon play me an unexpected hand.

* * *

**Matt**

There I was, panting on the ground. I had just finished taking out two Pokemon in a double battle versus me. And now the next Pokemon were coming in, ready for battle. They didn't even give me time to catch my breath. "Proteus," I thought to myself. "Such a place should not even exist." Quickly running to the back of the room, I prepared for an Attack.

The opponents were Venusaur and Typhlosion. Still panting from the last battle, I tried to lift myself and stand straight, or at least as straight as my back would allow. With my new Swampert features, I couldn't even stand straight because my backbone had been modified to be more like one. I strained, finally getting up on all fours. "How can they do this?" I asked myself. "Do they have no soul, no ethics whatsoever?"

I had been living at the Proteus compound for a while now. I couldn't remember the exact date, as the days had begun to bleed together. Out of nowhere, Proteus had just snatched me away, down an alley, into a truck and to the lab to be injected. That was the last day of my life.

Luckily for me, I had owned a Swampert, so I knew the Attacks and how Swampert work. But that's where my luck ended. They made us fight all day, with little food, no healing and barely any sleep. Most of the other hybrids that were there also had mostly gotten used to it - day in and day out, same old thing. The only thing that kept me going, was the simple thought of some day getting out and going to my Pokemon. But I knew it was improbable.

I jumped into the air as high as I could, just as Typhlosion dived at me. Barely missing him, I purposefully landed hard, sending shockwaves through the ground beneath me. They struck the Typhlosion just as he turned around to look at me. He was hurt and dazed as he fell to the ground. Behind me, though, Venusuar took the opportunity to use Vine Whip. The vines stretched around my body, squeezing me tight. Typhlosion finally got up off the ground, running towards me with Quick Attack. It struck hard, right in the chest, knocking the breath out of me. Throwing me up in the air and dropping me hard to the ground, Venusaur released his Vine Whip - big mistake.

As Typhlosion came towards me again, I shot a Surf Attack at him, leaping over him and turning around to begin shooting Ice Beams towards Venusaur, using Typhlosion as a body shield. As several of the beams struck, ice crystallised all over Venusaur's body, freezing him completely. Leaping into he air for a final Attack, I came down with Earthquake, finishing off Venusaur and Typhlosion.

As the two were returned to their Poke Balls, I collapsed to the ground, panting quite heavily now. I tried to cool off by using Water Gun, but it wasn't doing much good. Two more Poke Balls were tossed to one side of the arena as I used my hands to drag my body across the floor. Upon getting to the other side, I knew it was useless to try and stand. So I quickly dragged myself to the pool, diving under the water to try and get away. The water was cool and quite refreshing.

"When will this end?" was my last thought before I saw a Lapras diving beneath the water after me, firing an Ice Beam. "And what will become of me?"

* * *

**Heather**

I am a nobody. You most likely don't know my name. You most likely never would want to know my name. But here it is - Heather Smith.

I wanted death. At least it would be freedom from this hell. I heard something, but I ignored it, focusing on the pain dancing up and down my back. I should have let myself been knocked out; that could maybe result in my death. But, deep down, I didn't really want to die.

Breathing harshly, I cracked my eyes open, Wincing as light assaulted the orbs. Giving a hiss, I pulled myself to my feet. I hated training. I hated fighting. I just wanted to be what I was before, what I couldn't remember. Flashes zipped by so fast I couldn't hold onto more than one or two - and not for long either.

I remembered laughter - and a Pokemon, which was red. Then it was gone, leaving me feeling lost and alone in this world.

The Pokemon from before was laughing at me in its own tongue and had started to attack again. The heavy armor of the Golem was protecting it from most, if not all, of my Attacks and causing me heavy damage whenever I got too close or stopped moving for very long. My ears pick up the sound like gravel falling continously while heavy thuds alerted me to it approaching. I didn't want to fight anymore. I couldn't fight anymore.

The Golem gave a mocking roar and suddenly the earth split, swallowing me up . . .

Gasping for breath, I sat bolt upright, my heart struggling to stay in my chest as my eyes snapped around the room. Had it all been a dream? No, I had fought against a Golem a while ago and lost. The memory of my near-death experience still haunted me. Closing my eyes and giving a shake of my head, I picked myself up off the floor. Beds and blankets were too awkward for me now; my teeth and tail kept snagging on everything. Giving a small yawn, I ran a hand over the false hair on my head, flattening the spikes, then scratched between them to get rid of anything that could be stuck there. Standing up slowly after this was done, I looked around. I wanted out of this hell, but I couldn't get out.

Unlike some of the others, I didn't want to be human again. I had no memory of my past really. So why should I return to the past when I had a future to think of . . . well, a present? Looking down, I doubted I would be human again. My ebony and cream skin seemed to scream that at me, while mock scars of violet lay on my limbs and also seemed to exude that this would never be taken away from me. I was neither Pokemon nor human.

Sometimes I hated waking up and finding myself alive. Because it meant I'd have to fight again and be pushed to and past my limits.

* * *

**Zeod**

There I sat, eating a plate of my favorite food, spaghetti. This particular plate had meatballs, meat sauce and just enough Parmesan cheese to give it a bit more texture without make it taste all cheesy. Me and the Proteus chefs had come to an agreement. I could have any food I wanted as long as I cooked it myself. This was actually good since they tried to feed me Pokemon food.

"Zeod Suriyamma, report to the training area. Zeod Suriyamma . . ."

_"It is time for you to train,"_ a voice in my head said. It was my Ponyta. We could never be separated, especially since they used my Ponyta's DNA to fuse with mine. He was my old friend.

"Yes, Pony, I heard them. They will just have to wait until I finish eating," I said taking another bite.

"Zeod Suriyamma, I don't care if you're eating, report to the training area now!" the intercom boomed.

"I guess they heard me," I said to Pony.

_"I guess they did,"_ he said, laughing.

I took my last bite and went to the training arena. When I got there, they had me fight a Mightyena girl.

"Well, we might as well get this over with," I said to myself.

* * *

**James**

After having a conversation with two hybrids, I walked to my room. That was what they called it. It was more like a stinking jail cell to me. The cell had a hard bed that was only good for sitting and that was pretty much it. The thing was designed so I couldn't get out. There was an automated door that let me in, since I couldn't get in by myself, but it wouldn't let me out; it only did that if I had another "fun" session of training in store.

Training was a nightmare. As soon as I headed for my cell, I heard that intercom boom as loudly as it could. "James Anai, report to the training area!" It made me cringe - my ears were now sensitive, due to the fact they were Nidoking ears. In fact, my entire head was that of a Nidoking.

I sighed. "Here we go again . . ." I thought. This was my life. Here I was, nothing but a poisonous guinea pig. They thought it was funny to see me in my ripped clothing, attempting to beat off everything they gave me.

I walked toward the door that literally smelt of pain and death. I stared, ramming the door with a horn in annoyance, denting it until it finally opened for me. As soon as I put a foot forward, the door slammed behind me, leaving me in a large room that resembled a colosseum. The ground was hard orange dirt, almost like the ground on Mars. I looked up angrily, watching the scientists staring down at me as if they were going to record everything I did.

The other side of the room had a door similar to the one I had gone through. Out came a Lapras, the confused creature looking around before staring at me. Then, the trainer also came to the field; it was yet another despicable agent of Number 1.

"Lapras, Ice Beam!" the grunt shouted as the Lapras reluctantly shot out a white, cold beam. I immediately felt frigid, realizing that I had been trapped - from my neck down, I was frozen solid.

My black eyes widened when I saw the Lapras preparing to hit me with some nameless Attack. It rammed into me. Unfortunately for it, that Attack shattered the ice. I was shivering wildly and decided it was my turn. I always got migraines whenever I tried an Attack that didn't require my body - it was almost as if I looked for some kind of switch in my brain. In a desperate attempt, I used Thunder, lightning started to spark before it successfully rained down onto the Lapras. The Lapras went down and I thought I could go. Of course, I should have known they were probably going to keep me until I was lying on the ground, writhing like a worm.

As expected, the Lapras was returned to its Poke Ball and the door re-opened, revealing a hoof. "Here I go again . . ." I groaned to myself.

* * *

**Crystal**

I was a girl, a girl whose life was ruined eighteen months ago. I wasn't a famous girl, but at least I was a somebody then. I was a girl, an average girl, no more than eleven. I had two Pokemon, an Espeon, and a Dragonair, which I nicknamed Aurora and Sky. They both were loyal Pokemon and best friends.

I remember the first day on my journey. I just turned eleven and I was heading towards to Fortree City to battle Winona, the Flying Type Gym Leader. Training along the way, my Pokemon were becoming stronger.

The next day saw my first battle. I was fighting a trainer's Absol with my Eevee. Then, the trainer raised the stakes a little and sent out his Beautifly. It was a double battle. I called out my Dratini and started the battle. It was challenging, a battle that I would never forget. I won.

The boy said his name was Jason and he was a traveling Co-ordinator, heading to my hometown, Lilycove. I continued my journey and saw some amazing things. I won the Feather Badge, the Balance Badge, the Mind Badge and the Rain Badge. Each of those took about three tries to actually win them. After I won the Rain Badge, I went back to Lilycove to see my parents. I was going to check how they were doing. Flying across Route 124, with my newly evolved Dragonair, I could barely see the shoreline of Lilycove, since it was about midnight since I had last checked my watch.

When Sky and I reached the shore, we were ambushed with a couple of people known as Proteus agents. They chased us. I was panting, gasping for air, as I ran towards Route 121. I couldn't shake them loose. I released my Espeon, told both my Pokemon I loved them dearly and that I could not bear to see them captured by evil men. I told them to flee to my house. They were both wearing a collar and each collar held a note, hastily written while I on the run. They was hardly legible, but they were still understandable. Espeon and Dragonair fled while I was still on the run. I then came to a dead end. The two agents lunged towards me and injected some sort of drug in me . . .

When I woke up, I was never the same again. I started to hear all sorts of voices in my head. I turned my head to a mirror. I had a mysterious red jewel in the middle of my head, a tail sticking out of my jeans and two strange ears sticking out of my head. My hair was no longer the lovely ebony shade that I carefully took care of when growing up but the shade of lavender that I had only seen on an Espeon. In fact, all of these symptoms added up to one thing; I was no longer a human, only a freakish Espeon-hybrid.

If that wasn't enough, well you haven't seen what this place was like. It was a living hell. I was never allowed out of this place, I was forced to train day and night, and there was no mercy for a hybrid like me. I wanted to kill myself, but what good would that be?

I couldn't control my mind-reading abilities at first. That had brought me many sleepless nights and days full of headaches as everyone around me drowned out my own thoughts with theirs. I was glad I was actually able to control them now; I had no wish to read minds any longer. However, that still wasn't a relief for living here. The only time had to myself was when I slept. The rest of my time went to training and being awake.

I was shot out of my memories by the intercom.

"Crystal Lily Breeze, report to the training area immediately. I repeat - Crystal Lily Breeze, report to the training area!" the loudspeaker boomed into my ear. Reluctantly, I walked the long walk to the training area.

The security was tight around here since four female hybrids escaped one night. I wished I could have escaped with them too. I hoped for the best for those four girls, since I was not sure if they were still alive.

I stepped onto the training area and took my battle stance, expecting a battle. I knew a quote which had proved true over my lifetime. "Hope for the best, expect the worst. Life is a play, we're unrehearsed," was the last thought from me before I faced an Umbreon.

"Let the slaughter begin," I thought as I saw the Umbreon lunge towards me.

* * *

**Alana**

I was going to train in Battle Room 4 and I pushed the door open apprehensively, wondering what I was going to face. In the past, I'd had to take on some pretty powerful Pokemon, including a Tyranitar which knocked me out with a Hyperbeam. And, if you got hurt in this place, you only got a cursory glance at the "medical facility", along with a few doses of Potion - if you were lucky. So I always dreaded being calling to the training area, fearing that I might have to face an opponent I couldn't possibly handle.

Instead, to my surprise, I found myself facing one of the other hybrids. He was a Ponyta, with flames in place of hair, named Zeod Suriyamma. Two Proteus agents were also in the room and I wondered what they were doing there. Then, I found out.

"Zeod Suriyamma, use your Flamethrower!" directed one of them.

In response, Zeod reluctantly threw back his head and blasted a jet of flames at me. I knew exactly what was expected. Before the flames could hit, I dodged out of the way and used Protect, creating an invisible forcefield between myself and Zeod's Attacks. The other agent nodded approvingly. "Good girl, Alana. Now try a Take Down!"

I was just about to begin running towards Zeod when something snapped inside me. This wasn't right. I was still a human being, even if I did have Mightyena DNA. The way that agent was talking you would have thought he was a trainer and I was a Pokemon. "Oi!" I thought. "I'm not your Pokemon, so quit treating me like one!" I sat down on the floor and refused to budge.

Then, I felt a sharp kick in my side. "I told you to battle!" snarled the agent. His cohort and Zeod were looking at me in confusion, clearly wondering what was going to happen next. "You'd do well to remember where you stand here!" He moved to kick me again. That was when I decided to really let this jerk have it . . .

I felt my rage building up inside me as I thought of all the terrible things Proteus had done to me. I recalled the long hours of training, the enforced isolation, the injustice of the whole system . . . Then, a sudden blast of energy caught the agent full in the chest and knocked him to the floor. I ran at him and was about to follow through with a Bite to a certain part of his anatomy when his fellow agent grabbed hold of me.

"That will do," he said firmly, holding me tightly to keep me from do what I so wanted to. "Both of you . . ." He indicated Zeod " . . . get out of here! This will be reported to Number 1!"


	2. Chapter Two

**

Chapter Two

**

**Matt**

As I fell into bed, the water from the pool was still dripping off me. I completely collapsed into the bed, nearly falling asleep on impact. It really wasn't that soft, but, compared to battling, it was heaven.

Aftet sleeping for a few minutes, I finally awoke, starving. Walking down to the kitchen, I found the closest food, Pokefood in a cupboard, and tossed a bit into my mouth. Sitting down at the table, I rested my head on my hands, trying to think more clearly.

Suddenly, there was a voice on the intercom. "Matt Oftre, report to the training area immediately. Matt Oftre, report . . ." The voice droned on as I stood up to leave.

I couldn't believe they were making me fight again; I had barely gotten any rest. Walking to a door, I didn't even let it open, insteadramming straight through with my full anger energizing me. They had opponents waiting on the other side of the field, a Tropius and a Gyarados.

I walked to my side of the field and the battle began. Tropius shot out several Razor Leaves. Barely dodging them, I dived into the pool, running into Gyarados. Angered, he shot a Hyper Beam towards me. Barely dodging it, I jumped out of the pool as Tropius clipped me with a Solarbeam he had been charging. It slammed me up against the wall, just as I shot an Ice Beam towards Gyarados, who had now surfaced. Obvously angered, Gyarados shot another Hyper Beam at me, this time striking me in the chest. Falling to the ground, I felt like dying.

Tropius then flew over my body, slamming me into the ground and finishing up with Giga Drain. This was way harder than any other battle I had ever been in. My body said to lay down and die, but I wanted to end this, end it now. Forcing myself to stand, I ran at full force towards Gyarados. I jumped onto his back, shot several ice beams at his neck and began ripping at his flesh. Jumping to Tropius, I grabbed him round the neck while he fired more and more Razor Leaves at me. They scratched my side, leaving marks. I finished him off with a quick bash to the head and a few Ice Beams.

Again, I collapsed to the ground, tired beyond belief. My body was in complete and total pain, aching all over, and it appeared as though I was bleeding. The men came and carried me away to my room, where I got to sleep for a while.

* * *

**Zeod**

"Alana!" I yelled, trotting up to her as she left the room. "Look, I'm sorry for what happened back there. I couldn't help it. You have every right to attack me for that Attack back there," I said.

I really was sorry. I didn't mind battling Pokemon as long as I wasn't being controlled, but I hated battling the other hybrids and being controlled.

_"Who is your friend? Can I meet her?"_ Pony asked.

"Sure! Since you're a part of me, you should be able to meet my friends," I said. Alana looked confused. "Pony is my Ponyta. His DNA was fused with mine and his mind lies iin the back of mine, allowing us to communicate," I explained.

I let Pony take over. _"Hello. I am Pony. Nice to meet you,"_ Pony said, using my body to talk to Alana. "If Zeod is ever thinking, then you will be talking to me, so I come out a lot," Pony said, explaining how our mind switch worked. He waited to see what Alana would say.

* * *

**Alana**

I didn't quite know what to say. I mean, it was as if Zeod had two personalities inside him . . . Then, I reminded myself that he did, that I was talking to the Ponyta he was blended with. And that was what surprised me more than anything else. I could understand such a thing happening with Psychic Pokemon, but Ponyta was a Fire Type. However strong its bond with its trainer . . .

"So, um . . . Pony," I began. "Tell me about yourself . . ." I paused and waited for him to reply.

_"There's not really much to tell. I was Zeod's Pokemon at the Trainers' School and . . ."_

"You mean the one in Rustboro?" I interupted.

_"Yes. Zeod was the best trainer in his year, but he kept pushing me real hard and they said he'd have to stay on until he learnt to respect me. Anyway, he was taking me to the Pokemon Centre one night when . . ."_

"What's going on here!"

A Proteus agent was marching towards us, his face as black as thunder. Zeod blinked a few times, then smiled at the man casually. I tried to look as though I had no idea what was happening, but it wasn't easy. Proteus had ways of knowing things, as I'd found out to my cost in the past. Still, I hoped this guy hadn't noticed anything unusual; if they found out Zeod could communicate with the Ponyta he was blended with . . .

"N - nothing," I stammered, wincing as he grabbed hold of my shoulder.

"Nothing, what!" the agent barked.

"Nothing, S - Sir," I said quickly. We were supposed to address all the agents as "Sir" or "Ma'am", but the rule was one of the few that wasn't strictly enforced. This agent, however, was one of the exceptions.

He grunted at us. "Don't play dumb with me! You . . ." He jabbed me in the chest " . . . are in a whole heap of trouble after what happened in the training area. I've been sent to tell you to get yourself in your room and stay there!"

"Don't worry - I'm going," I muttered as I walked away. I was so sick of this place, this - I searched for the right words - boot camp. I would be confined to my room for the rest of the day as "punishment" for my little rebellion against Proteus and the other hybrids in the facility would be banned from speaking to me, even via telepathy. There were two Psychic Type hybrids (an Espeon girl named Crystal and an Alakazam boy named Luke) here and they'd both developed their telepathic powers so we could talk without Proteus knowing. But they soon got wise to it and, every time one of us got punished, they would activate some sort of device that blocked Psychic energy . . .

Anyway, as soon as I was in my room, I slumped down on the uncomfortable bed and thought things over. What Attack had I used back there? I remembered feeling really angry and ticked off a few seconds before, but Mightyena can't learn Rage. Was it Frustration? Probably - I'd never understood the point of that move, but I did once read that it is strongest when the Pokemon hates its trainer. And I certainly hated those arrogant Proteus goons.

* * *

**Zeod**

I flipped minds with Pony and looked at the Proteus goon. My eyes had fire in them. "You punished her for nothing!" I yelled. "She was telling you the truth!" as I said this, my hand burst into flames. I had discovered that, even though Ponyta couldn't leard Fire Punch, I could still use it by sending the flames on my hooves to my hand.

"We were just talking about our lives before we were hybrids. I was telling her about my Ponyta. You accused her of doing something wrong. I can't let that go unpunished." I punched my flaming fist in his face. They were probably going to take my food privilages for this one.

He hit an alarm on the wall as he fell. A whole squad of goons came running. The two in lead were the ones that were controlling me and Alana. I took off running in the direction Alana went.

When I got to her room, I burned a hole through the door. "I could use some help here. I was getting back at them for punishing you for nothing and the alarm got tripped. The one in lead was the one controlling you. Think you would like to join the party?" I asked, moving away from the hole so she could get out.

* * *

**Jason**

I was in the battle room, but I could hardly beat even the weakest Pokemon. I was fighting a Golduck and it pushed me to the ground. I slid a bit and then got hit by a powerful Psybeam. I was down for the count.

"You are a worthless piece of dirt! I wonder why Number 1 would be so stupid as to keep you around," said a grunt, recalling his Pokemon.

He gave me a kick in the side. It burned a lot. I tried to fight back, but I was reluctant to try and do what I wanted to do most - kill the man. I started to crawl away to a doorway and was just at the exit when the man came up to me and grabbed me by the scruff of the neck. "You are not done yet," he told me. "Number 1 wants to see you in his office."

A few minutes later, I was kicked into a room with only a chair and a wall screen. This was Number 1's office. It was a black room, with no light except the one emitting from the wall screen. On the screen, a shadow walked in front of the camera.

"Jason, it seems that you are a weakling - you cannot even beat a Golduck. I'm sorry, but I guess you just are too much trouble to keep. We must eliminate you. But, to serve as a example to the others, you will be destroyed in battle by my powerful Dragon Types. Then, when you're dead and gone, I'm sure the others won't be so inclined to not serve us."

"You . . . monster!" I cried out.

A maniac's laugh was heard booming through the room. Then, when I looked to my arms and legs, I found they were restrained by metal straps. A hole appeared in the floor; it opened up and I was dropped into it. I slid into a large colloseum and an iron gate closed behind me. The opposite end of the roon held a horde of snarling beasts that looked ready to kill . . .

* * *

**Crystal**

The Umbreon lunged at me and, before I could react, I was bitten in the left arm by a vicious Bite attack. All I could muster was a soft "Ow!" while the Dark Pokemon's teeth dug in a little deeper. My eyes glowed a violent lavender, ready to cast a Psychic. Though the Attack may not harm a Dark Type like Umbreon much, it could pry him off of me so I wouldn't lose a chunk out of my arm.

The Dark Pokemon glowed the same hue of lavender and let go of my arm, slowly but surely. I flicked him across the room, letting him hit the cold, hard, steel wall. That didn't make the Umbreon give up, though. He rammed me into the wall with a Faint Attack. "Argh! This Pokemon is out to get me!" I thought as I screamed with pain.

The Umbreon wasn't finished with me yet. He shot a Shadow Ball. I was dizzy when I was hit with a Confuse Ray. When I tried to attack the blasted Pokemon, I just end up hitting a wall. "Oh, woe is me!" I thought.

The Confusion was lifted when I hit the tenth wall in a row. The Umbreon was now charging towards me. Out of fear, my tail started glowing a silver color and used my tail to knock out the Pokemon. An Iron Tail Attack, it was called. I was tired, but I these agents didn't know when enough was enough. They sent out a Sneasal and an Absol.

Fatiqued, I plopped on the ground, hoping that I could get a few winks of sleep and that they would bring me to my room if that were the case. I was motionless; I just couldn't move.

* * *

**Atsuko**

It was a typical day here at Proteus' base of operations. I was just sitting in my room, examining in my claws again. I had been turning them over for quite some time, wondering just what they'd be useful for in the real world. After a couple weeks I had finally come to one conclusion. "It'll be freakishly hard to play guitar with these."

Sighing, I turned my hand over, looking at my skin. It had attained the green color of a Flygon, though it made me look more sickly pale than anything. I flexed my fingers, concentrating so that a blue aura encircled them. It was the brightest source of light I could find in these cold, dim cells they kept us in. Seriously, didn't they ever think that in order for us to be fully healthy and battleworthy, we'd have to live in good conditions too? These guys didn't seem too smart, nor were they sympathetic towards us.

There were a certain few grunts who appeared to be in the middle, loyal to Number 1 but kind to us when nobody was looking. At least, some of them were nice to me. I didn't really know about the others; they didn't talk to me much. I looked up as the door to my cell opened and an older grunt stared down at me, his eyes narrowed in disgust. "Hey, kid, c'mon. It's time to . . ." The grunt stopped, staring at my glowing hands. "What're you doin'?"

"Oh, you mean my hands?" I asked, biding my time, "You see . . . uh . . . they've attained minds of their own, yeah! And they were about to scrape my face off." I dimmed out the aura. "But then, thankfully, you appeared! They're so scared of your face that they promised never to ravage mine, just in case I end up looking like I had a blender accident too. Thank you sooooo much!" I grinned brightly, holding my arms out wide.

The guy looked at me like I was nuts, muttered something about going to the training facility, then walked quickly in the other direction. People had to come down to my room everyday to tell me what I was supposed to do because I "accidentally" knocked out the speaker system within my room due to its loudness and the way it annoyingly echoed off the metallic walls. And for some strange reason, the repair men refused to come down here. They thought I was rabid or something.

I peeked my head out of the door that was left open by the fleeing grunt. Turning back, I removed my tan trenchcoat, placing it on the bed. I held my father's cross to my chest as a good luck prayer before walking out of the cell. The door automatically closed behind me as I turned and made my way towards the arena, my large dragon feet slapping against the ground.

* * *

**Alana**

I was grateful to Zeod for getting me out, but I was also worried. If we got caught, we would be in even more trouble than we were in already. And I knew the chances of us getting out of the lab alive were virtually zero, what with all the extra security measures installed after the last breakout. Even Luke couldn't help us, since these included a Teleport proof barrier around the entire facility.

"Now what do we do?" I puffed as we hid in a store cupboard. "We can't stay here forever . . ."

"Don't remind me. But we can't risk facing those goons either - they're just too powerful."

I thought about the rest of the hybrids - Heather, Crystal, Matt, Jason and all the rest - and how we had been ordinary kids until Proteus got hold of us. Now, we were no longer human; we were beings with the DNA and the abilities of Pokemon, but what was it all for? What did Number 1 hope to achieve with his mad experiments? "Well, what can we do?" I demanded, even though I knew they was no easy answer.

In the dim light of his flames, I could see Zeod looking at me. He seemed to be on the verge of saying something, but, before he could, the speakers began blaring again. We didn't think too much of it at first, but, as we listened, it became clear that this was no ordinary call for someone to "report to the battle area" . . .

"Attention, all experimental subjects! This is an important announcement from Number 1! At 1900 tonight, you will all assemble outside, where you will receive news and instructions regarding the next phase of your training. That is all."

Zeod and I looked at each other speechlessly, both of us wondering the same thing - what were Proteus up to now?

* * *

**Matt**

Water dripping from my back, I lay in wait, staring at my ceiling. It was one of the roughest days Proteus had ever put me through. For some reason, they were making the training a lot harder and a lot longer. But the question was - why? Why did they spend all this time and money raising our power? Why did Number 1 want us?

Suddenly, I was awoken from my thoughts as the nearby speaker began buzzing as a voice came on, commanding everyone to go to outside tonight. I rolled over on my bed, wondering what was going to happen.

"Maybe they'll release us," I thought, hopes beginning to rise as I rose out of bed, walked down a hall and got a final meal before heading to a room near the door outside. If they were actually going to let us out for any reason, I wanted to be first in line.

* * *

**Crystal**

I was in my bed. It was harder than a rock and the blanket was so sheer that I shivered in the night. It was better than nothing, but you would think that, if they wanted their subjects fully healthy and battleworthy, they would keep us in good conditions as well. In retrospect, they were as dim as these cold, damp cells.

I concentrated my energy into a little ball of lavender light, the only light I could ever find in this joint. It was the only source of entertainment I had as well. The ball dimmed slightly as the speakers blared into my ear. They said that, at 7 o'clock tonight, we were to report outside to receive news and instructions for the next step of our already intense training. I frowned at the thought of it; if I barely survived the Umbreon, I didn't know if I was going to make it.

My stomach rumbled as I looked at the clock, which showed 6:00 pm. "I have a good hour to grab a bite to eat," I thought as I walked out of my door to the kitchen cabinet.

I took out a jar of Pokemon food and a bowl. The food looked like pellets and only a few people I knew actually liked the taste. I shrugged it off and took half a bowl of it. I sat down and started eating it like I would potato chips. I missed the food that I ate when I was fully human, like pizza and salad.

I sighed, still munching on that pellet-like snack.

* * *

**Alana**

At seven o'clock that night, we all made our way outside. I was feeling apprehensive, wondering what Proteus had in store for us now and knowing that, whatever it was, it could only be bad for us. As I walked down the corridor that led outside, I heard some of the others talking.

"What do you suppose they want this time?" asked Matt, a youth who had been blended with a Swampert.

"Maybe they're taking us on an all expenses paid trip," joked Crystal. "Hopefully to somewhere nice like Lilycove . . ."

I saw a wistful look cross her face for a moment and wished with all my heart that she could be right. I'd never seen Lilycove City, but I had heard it was a hugely popular resort on the east coast of Hoenn. Before Proteus caught me, I had planned to make a trip there. Now, however . . .

But the realistic part of me told me that, wherever we were going, it would not be anywhere pleasent like Lilycove. Crystal was trying to be light-hearted, but the expression on her face betrayed her true feelings. We were at the mercy of our captors, compelled to go where they wished us to go. But what was going to happen to us? All I knew was that we were supposed to receive instructions about the next stage of our training.

Outside, we found Number 1 himself waiting for us. He was a tall man with brown hair and cold grey eyes, who always wore a business suit. It was said he had once been a Team Rocket member over in Kanto, but he and his supporters got kicked off after trying to depose Giovanni. That was why they had come to Hoenn and set up the Proteus organisation. They had plans, plans that could not be realised unless they set up their own criminal gang . . .

"What's he doing here?" muttered Heather, the Seviper hybrid. She was something of a loner and did not trust others easily.

"Yeah," agreed Jason, adjusting the sunglasses he always wore. "Since when does he make personal appearances?"

It was as if something had snapped in Heather. Suddenly, she flew at Jason in a rage, her Seviper fangs bared. "Shut it, you piece of crap!" she snapped. "No-one asked for your opinion - as if anyone cares what a Zangoose . . ." She practically spat the name of Jason's hybrid form out " . . . thinks! So shut the hell up!"

"Why don't you shut up, snake girl!" retorted Jason. He and Heather had never got along; the fact that he was a Zangoose hybrid and she was a Seviper hybrid had had some effect on their attitude towards each other. We had all heard these quarrels many times before, but I couldn't help wishing they would give it a rest sometimes. We were all in this together . . .

However, on this occassion, the argument was cut short as Number 1 began to address us. "Well, my little crossbreed proteges," he said, a sinister grin on his face, "I pleased to see you've all come so far in your training. The . . ." He cleared his throat " . . . loss of four of you was unfortunate, but those of you who remain are now ready to receive more intense training than we can offer."

We exchanged uneasy glances. "More intense training" could mean only one thing; we were going to be pushed even harder than we were already.

"I have chartered a plane to take you to Pyrite Town," Number 1 continued. "It will be leaving within the hour - and all of you are going to be on it."

As we were led towards the plane, something occurred to me. Wasn't Pyrite Town in Orre?

* * *

**Matt**

"Plane?" I thought to myself.

Being mixed with Swampert, a Water/Ground Type, I was terrified of heights. I hadn't mind heights too much when I was human, but, since I was mixed with Swampert, things had changed. Flying was suddenly an unenjoyable experience.

"And why Pyrite Town anyways?" I wondered. The last time I had been in Orre, it too was quite unenjoyable - always hot and dry, no wild Pokemon. Why would Number 1 want to send us there? Things just didn't make sense.

Since most of us didn't really have anything that we really owned, we headed towards the place where the plane waited to take us away. Getting on quickly, I took my seat and waited. For what, I didn't know . . .


	3. Chapter Three

**

Chapter Three

**

Zeod

They had a special seat for me on the plane since I couldn't sit in normal seats due to me having four legs. There was a normal seat beside it. I saved that seat for Alana so we could talk some more.

* * *

**Atsuko**

A plane trip eh? Man was I glad I had grabbed my trenchcoat and my father's cross before I had come outside. Outside . . .

I took a whiff of the fresh, clean air and patted the dirt beneath my shoeless feet. After becoming a Dragon and Ground Type, I suddenly had a whole new appreciation for the air above me and the earth under me. Guess it's a little easier to understand and appreciate things when they're practically a part of you. Sighing, I allowed myself a small moment of relaxation as Number 1 explained that the plane for Pyrite was leaving in an hour.

I nodded slowly and adjusted my coat so that it fit better over my folded wings. I stood there for a moment and, with a start, I realized I was being left behind. I quickly fell into line behind the others, stopping for a moment to look back at Number 1. I'd been told he had brown hair and grey eyes, but I didn't see it. Then again, the red mask I had over my eyes rarely let me see any color other than red and its many variations. To me, he had brick colored hair, dull red eyes, and wore a maroon business suit. He kind of reminded me of a clown, actually.

"Hey, I got a question . . ." I paused for a moment. "You think I could fly alongside the plane rather than ride in it?" I asked, grinning in a business-like matter.

I could sense him resisting the urge to slap himself in the face; he just muttered for me to get on the plane and stop acting like an idiot. Shrugging, I trotted up the stairs and inside the aircraft. I spotted a normal looking chair by an open-screened window and sat down sideways. This way, I avoided leaning on my wings and I didn't have to worry about where to stick my overly large dragon tail. The plane itself seemed pretty normal and, if it weren't for the fact that we couldn't all fly, we'd probably be able to escape once the plane lifted off and they had no way of following us. Ah well . . .

Now that I thought about it, this would be the first time I saw any of the experiments besides myself. There were ten total, including me. One girl was a Mightyena; the other was an Espeon. Of the males, there were fusions with a Swampert, Nidoking, Gengar, Ponyta, and Alakazam. I identified the two that were arguing earlier to be a Zangoose and a Seviper - no wonder they didn't get along. I felt bad for them; because their fused species were enemies, they couldn't maintain a normal friendship.

Shrugging off the thought for now, I turned and looked out the window. Now was the time for a nice nap, while I was still on the comfortable cushions of the airplane seats.

* * *

**Alana**

I had never been to Orre; the only thing I knew about it was that it had a very bad reputation. So what could Proteus be sending us there for? Did they have facilities in Pyrite? I was fairly sure they did. After all, we had been told something about getting advanced training . . .

"Huh?" I thought to myself. "As if the training we get already isn't tough enough!"

I glanced round at the others. Zeod was sitting nearest to me, in a seat specially adapted for a Ponyta hybrid. We had become fairly close recently, but what I felt for him wasn't exactly love (after all, he was basically a centaur and I was a wolf girl). Rather, it was a sense of comradeship, of being united in adversity. For want of a better term, we were friends, but that was as far as it went.

I saw Crystal and Luke sitting together, apparently drawn to each other by the mental waves Psychic Pokemon emit. Matt, Alex, James and a Flygon morph whose name I couldn't remember were also here, as were Heather and Jason. The latter two were sitting as far apart as possible and kept glowering at each other.

* * *

**Zeod**

"Hey, Alana! I wonder why we are being sent to Orre. Like the training here wasn't advanced enough!" I said as Alana sat down. I could tell she was thinking the same thing.

"You know, except for Pony, you're the only one who talks to me. They all think that I am too deep in thought to show friendship - at least I think that's why. Even back when I was pure human, I never had any friends. Pony was the only one who would listen to me. But you probably don't care about that. So, you know a bit about me, so tell me about yourself." I smiled as I said this.

* * *

**Alana**

I paused. "Well, I came from Johto originally," I said at length. "From Mahogany Town . . ." I paused again as I recalled the details of the life I once led. "Anyway, like most kids, I left home to go on a Pokemon journey - I went via the Ice Cave and Blackthorn because it was the quickest way for me. My starter Pokemon was a Spinarak, which evolved into Ariados just before I got to New Bark . . ."

I struggled to continue; just thinking about Ariados and my other Pokemon was difficult. Proteus had taken them and I didn't know if I would ever see them again. "So, anyway," I went on, "I did the Johto League, came third in the Silver Conference and decided to try my luck in Hoenn."

"Don't most trainers from Johto enter the Kanto League after they're done back home?" cut in Crystal. I turned to find that she and a couple of the others had been listening to my story.

"I know, but I wanted to try something different. So . . ."

I was cut off abruptly as one of the agents shouted at us to sit down because we would soon be taking off. Soon, I thought as the plane began to taxi, we would be in Orre. I had never been there - it was too far away - but I had heard that it had a very bad reputation; Number 1's decision to send us there could hardly be good . . .

It was then that I decided we had to do something; if we didn't, Proteus would carry on exploiting us for the rest of our lives. And, even after that, we would probably get preserved as lab specimens. I shuddered at the thought, but it only strengthened my resolve. We had to stand up for ourselves, show Proteus we were not going to take their crap any more. I checked no Proteus agents were listening before turning to address my fellow hybrids.

"Guys," I said, "are you up for kicking a little Proteus butt?"

* * *

**Matt**

This was it. The plane was being pulled down a long road, at the end of which we'd turn around and take off. I tightened my grip on the arm-rests, trying to calm myself down. Closing my eyes, I listened to a nearby conversation, some girl talking about her Pokemon journey before being captured. As I listened, I began thinking about my own journey, my Pokemon which were probably still back at the Pokemon Center. I'd probably never see them again.

Suddenly, the plane was driving itself and we were turning around to take off. I gripped harder on the arm-rest, just as I heard the same girl say something else, something about kicking Proteus' butt. Whatever it was, it sounded good, too good to pass up.

"I'm in," I said quietly, still gripping the arm-rest.

* * *

**Zeod**

"You can count me in. You will need a strategist to help and I was the best at the Pokemon Trainers' School. Me and Pony will be glad to help any way we can."

As I said "me and Pony", they all stared at me except for Alana. She already knew about Pony. "Pony was the Pokemon whose DNA I was fused with," I said. "Somehow, we can maintain a mental link and we can also switch our minds. I don't know why this is possible, but it could be possible with you if you had a strong bond with the Pokemon you were fused with."

* * *

**Alana**

I heard what Zeod said and thought it made sense. I'd never had the ability to switch minds with the Mightyena I had been blended with. But, if you had a special bond with the Pokemon concerned . . .

Anyway, before we did anything else, we would have to stop Proteus from taking us to Orre. I turned to look at everyone. "Guys," I said as we lifted into the air, "we need a plan."

"A bit late for that," muttered Heather. She pointed out of the window, at the rapidly disappearing ground. "Unless some of you know Fly . . ."

Jason looked like he was about to say something, but the Flygon boy beat him to it. "I do, but that won't help the rest of us."

I was glad he had chipped in; any exchange of words between Heather and Jason had a habit of resulting in a row. "Thanks . . ." I said, pausing as I realised I still didn't know his name.

"Atsuko," he told me. "I heard what you said - and I agree with you. Proteus must be stopped."

"And, to do that, we need to take control of this plane," I added, feeling a pang of excitement at the thought. We were about to become hijackers, people I had always thought of as evil fanatics. But desperate times called for desperate measures; if we didn't act soon, it would be too late. I turned to look at everyone. "OK, let's talk plans."

* * *

**Matt**

My mind suddenly cooled down, but my breathing and grip on the arm-rests was still strong. We needed a plan to hijack the plane. What could we do?

"Well," I thought to myself, looking around a bit, "there appear to be a few guards in a different compartment ahead and behind us."

Thinking as hard as I could, I finally got a bit of an idea. "Alana, you're mixed with a Mightyena, so maybe, somehow, you could use Yawn? If we can get the guards to sleep, we could tie them up and we'd be in control of the plane. What do you think?"

* * *

**Zeod**

"Either that," I said, continuing on what Matt had just said, "or the Psychic hybrids could use Hypnosis. Or they could use Teleport to transport us off the plane."

_"I have an idea. What if the Psychic hybrids use mind control to have the pilots steer us to where we want to go?"_ Pony suggested.

I repeated what Pony had just said to the group and waited for a response.

* * *

**Jason**

"I've got an idea," I said. "We can walk to the pilot's cabin and I can use my claws to jam the flight controls. That way, we would only fly a short distance before landing back on the ground. But the only problem is that we might be too close to Proteus to escape . . ."

I unbuckled myself and walked over to the rest of the group. "Should we take our chances here or in the air? The clock is ticking . . ."

* * *

**Matt**

"Whatever we're going to do, we need to decide fast. 'Cause, I don't think we can all swim," I commented, pointing out my window, from which you could see the ocean beginning to appear on the horizon.

Unbuckling my seatbelt, I gently stood up, trying to shake off my fear of flying. Today was the day we were actually going to try and escape Proteus.

* * *

**Alana**

First, though, we had to take out the pilots. I looked at everyone, trying to decide who would be best equiped to handle this. One thing I did know was that Matt was probably right when he said we had to do something before we got too far away from land.

"OK," I said. "Here's what I want each of you to do. James," I said to the Nidoking guy, "you're the strongest of us - you can take care of the pilot. Atsuko, you deal with the co-pilot. Crystal and Luke, you two can use your Psychic powers to control the plane."

"And what about the rest of us?" asked Heather, looking at me with her reptilian face.

"Yeah," added Jason. "Do we just sit back and do nothing?"

I looked at him, realising as I did so that this was the first time he'd agreed with Heather about anything. Usually, the two of them would start bickering over the slightest thing, their attitude towards each other shaped by the Pokemon they had been blended with. I sometimes wished they could forget their differences and at least try to be friends, but it was easier said than done. The rivalry between Zangoose and Seviper runs deep, so deep that few trainers have ever succeeded in having both on the same team without fights breaking out. One of the few who did was a neighbour of mine from back in Mahogany Town . . .

"Alana?"

I looked up to see Zeod waving his hand in front of my face. "Oh, sorry," I told him, realising I had been daydreaming. "Anyway," I went on, "the rest of you will be ready to back James and Atsuko up if necessary."

"O - OK," said Zeod. "But when are we going to make our move?"

I looked him full in the face. "Right now."

* * *

**Matt**

"Right," I said, following James and Atsuko to the front of the plane. The rest of the group split up as well, split up as much as you could on a small plane, that is.

Most of the guards appeared to be in the back of the plane, so no-one would try and stop us as we took over the plane. Looking at James, I realised he appeared quite strong, as Nidoking were naturally strong. Going to the door that separated us from the pilots, I realised this wasn't going to be easy. The door seemed very thick and ripping it off the hinges wouldn't work. We had to weaken the hinges first.

So Atsuko took one side and I took the other. Atsuko used what appeared to be Sandstorm, grinding away at the hinges, and I used Water Gun. This was not as effective, but it still worked. Finally, we both stepped back as James stepped in. Using his huge hands to grasp each side of the door, he pulled back, ripping the door from the wall. He did not making much noise, so, as we hurried towards the pilots, they didn't appear to have heard anything.

Not wanting to let them know we were coming, I thought quickly to myself. If we simply pulled the pilots out of their seats and knocked them unconscious, they wouldn't have time to do anything.

* * *

**Zeod**

"I'll see how far we are from land. It won't matter if we take over the plane if we don't know where land is," I said, climbing out the door and onto the top of the plane. I had a hard time getting set so I wouldn't fall off; hooves don't grip slick surfaces very well. Finally, I managed to make a indent in the roof to lie in so I could see where the land was.

* * *

**Jason**

"OK," I said. "I'll wait by the doors to knock 'em out if they try to escape."

I slowly crept up to the side of the door and got into a position I could use to stop an approaching man. While I waited, I thought about what had happened so far.

I had been in captivity a long time. I was trained until I was ready to die, but the weakness I used to have from being a street rat was gone. The vile torture Proteus put us through would be their downfall, even if it meant killing every one of them.

* * *

**Alana**

Zeod had climbed out onto the plane's roof and was on the lookout for land. I hoped he would be able to maintain his balance long enough; Ponyta hybrids aren't exactly famous for being able to stand on smooth surfaces, especially ones that are moving. I wished there was some way to keep him from falling, but none of us knew any moves that might help. There was a girl who was mixed with an Ivysaur, but she was one of the four who escaped.

"Too bad Belinda's not here," I thought. Belinda was the Ivysaur girl's name. "She could've used Vine Whip to keep . . . No, that wouldn't work. Zeod's flames would burn through the vine and, besides . . ."

Just then, Zeod's voice called out to us, jolting me out of my thoughts. "Hey, you guys! I can see land!"

The effect of his words was instantaneous. We all gathered around the plane's door, watching as Zeod began the perilous climb down from the roof. It was a slow and unnerving process, made harder by the constant movement, and we all knew that one slip could spell disaster. Then, as if simply thinking about it had tempted fate, Zeod missed his footing and fell . . .

"Zeod!" we all shouted in a panic.

"Luke!" I called to the Alakazam boy. "Help him!"

In response, Luke raised his arms and his eyes glowed as he Teleported Zeod back on board. Zeod appeared shaken and we waited until he had caught his breath before asking any questions.

"You saw land?" asked Crystal. "Where?"

"That way." Zeod pointed to the east.

"Good work," I told him. "Let's hope Matt, Atsuko and James have had as much luck."


	4. Chapter Four

**

Chapter Four

**

Matt

"Atsuko, you take the guy on the right. James, take the guy on the left. Now let's go!" I said as the two other guys rushed into the cockpit. A loud noise was heard and they came back out, the pilot and co-pilot falling unconcious to the floor.

"I sure hope they're ready to control the plane," Atsuko said, looking out the window as we say the plane begin to slowly dive lower and lower. But, just as he said it, a pink aura covered most of the cockpit and the plane regained a straight path.

"I guess they did," James said as we went back to join the others.

* * *

**Atsuko**

I stayed back as James and Matt went to join the others after we had dispatched the pilots. I didn't understand what James meant when he said he guessed they did find a way to control the plane. He was looking outside, however, so my guess was that the psychic aura controlling the plane was some bright derivation of red.

It was kind of droll seeing everything in shades of red and I wished I could remove the red mask in front of my eyes. However, that was impossible so long as I remained part Flygon. Shrugging, I returned to the cockpit. I noticed that the plane had changed direction, my inner compass telling me we were traveling east now. Through the front window, I could see land up ahead, one of the most promising sights I had seen all day.

Turning from the grand view, I drew some emergency rope from the nearby first aid kit. I bent down and relieved the knocked out drivers of their weapons and walkie-talkies, then bound them up tight, back to back. I then grabbed some nearby duct tape and placed it cleanly over their mouths. After that, I dragged them out into the room and dumped them in a corner where everyone could see them. I didn't want to take any chances with the pilots making any dirty moves.

Turning to look at the others, I spoke up. "Well, that takes care of these two. We'll need to keep an eye . . ." I looked up as I felt a tight wind tugging at my crest-shaped hair. "Whose bright idea was it to tear a hole through a solid metal roof? I mean, you could've just looked right out the cockpit window, or the side windows . . ." I blinked again at the hole, then looked back at the group. "Anyway, there's probably a good many Proteus lackeys in that room behind this one and they're bound to notice that we've changed course sooner or later. Who wants to guard the door?" I asked, plopping down sideways on one of the chairs.

* * *

**Zeod**

"I have a better idea than guarding the door," I said. "I could make the door just hot enough that it burns their hands when they touch it."

I waited for a reply before I did anything.

* * *

**Alana**

"We'll do both," I said in reply to Zeod's suggestion. "Zeod, you use Ember to heat the door while Crystal, Luke and I stand guard."

We stood back as Zeod aimed his flames at the door, making it just hot enough for most beings to find touching it extremely uncomfortable. I say "most" because Zeod, being part Fire Pokemon, was better able to withstand heat than the rest of us. "That'll take a couple of hours to cool down," he said when he was done.

"OK," said Crystal. "What do we do now?"

"Get this thing to land as quickly as possible," replied Atsuko, looking at all of us with his large red eyes. With that, he headed back to the cockpit with the rest of us following. In the cockpit, I watched as he quickly checked the fuel gauges before turning to us and shaking his head. "Guys, we're in trouble . . ."

"Tell me something I don't know!" I snapped. We were God only knew how far up in the air, on a plane with no human pilots. In addition, the nearest expanse of land was the one we had flown out from, a place too close to Proteus for our liking. And, if that didn't count as trouble, what did?

Atsuko paused. "Well . . . I was hoping to get us as far from those goons as possible, only . . ."

"Only what?" I asked, feeling a deep sense of foreboding.

"There's not enough fuel to get us where I planned to go, that's what," replied Atsuko. He tapped the fuel gauge.

"Looks pretty full to me," I said, glancing at the plane's control panel. But, then again, what did I know about planes?

"Not full enough," Atsuko told us. "I thought maybe we could head out to the Orange Islands or somewhere Proteus can't touch us, but . . ."

What Atsuko said made sense. Clearly, Proteus would have provided the plane with enough fuel for a straight there-and-back trip to Orre, no detours allowed. But they hadn't banked on their cargo of hybrids taking over the plane . . . I sighed deeply. "Guess we'll just have to go back the way we came."

* * *

**Matt**

"Back to where Proteus will be waiting?" I spoke up "If so, we'll need to be ready to handle them. Most of the agents were probably waiting in Orre for us, so there shouldn't be too many left back there. But still, everyone needs to have completely concentrated their powers if we want this to work. Otherwise, they'll put us so deep in security we'll never be able to escape. So, who's ready?"

* * *

**Zeod**

"I'm ready. Let Proteus try anything - I can't wait to heat things up!" I said going into a far corner to think for a while.

* * *

**Jason**

"Couldn't we possibly change the direction so we end up a little farther away from the base?" I asked. "Or do we not have enough fuel?"

I too didn't know much about planes or aircrafts, but I was sure a mile or two wouldn't make much of a difference.

* * *

**Alana**

"We should have enough fuel to make it to Petalburg," replied Atsuko. With that, he took hold of the plane's controls and steered it to the south.

That news didn't exactly fill me with confidence. Petalburg was a little too close to Rustboro for my liking; it wouldn't take too much effort for Number 1 to send his goons to find us. And, even if that didn't happen, we still had other problems to worry about - mainly the fact that we were hybrids. Would we be able to conceal ourselves and what would happen to us if someone found out what we were?

I could picture it now: a lifetime spent in the shadows, hiding from those who would exploit us because of what we were. It wasn't just Proteus we had to worry about; someone might decide we belonged in a freak show. Still, I reasoned, that was likely to happen wherever we went. So Petalburg was probably as good a place as any for us to hide out.

"Hide out," I thought to myself. "That makes us sound like a gang of criminals." Yet what crimes had we committed? None, apart from being in the wrong place at the wrong time - and look where that had landed us. Inside, I was a normal kid still, even though my external appearance was that of a freakish half Mightyena creature. I still longed for the things most kids take for granted and I had a feeling the others felt the same way. But would we ever have any of those things again?

"Not unless we take care of Proteus," I whispered to myself. But I must have spoken a little louder than I intended because James looked across at me.

"I'm with you, Alana," he said. "But, first, let's get back to solid ground . . ."

* * *

**Matt**

Finally, we were going to land. Finally, we were going to be off this wretched plane. I sat down in the nearest chair, relaxing finally. No matter what happened, I was happy. Not many people get to experience the feeling of being a hybrid, using Attacks and taking damage. Even though being a hybrid was a burden, it was also a chance to experience things no one else would ever get to. And I was grateful.

Looking out the window, I could see land, Hoenn. I was getting closer to home, and I could feel it.

"What're we going to do when we land?" I asked "We need some place we can go, some place safe where we can think things out from here, some place Proteus can't get to us. Does anyone know somewhere like that?"

* * *

**Alana**

"Maybe . . . Petalburg Woods?" I suggested, looking round at everyone.

I remembered trekking through Petalburg Woods on my way to Rustboro, little realising what would happen to me. I had walked among the trees, my Pokemon safely stashed in my bag, ready for anything. Except, it seemed, a group of evil jerks out to turn innocent kids into half-Pokemon freaks . . .

"Alana?" It was Crystal who spoke. I turned round and looked at her. "What's the matter?" she asked, her blue Espeon eyes filled with worry.

I sighed. "Nothing," I told her. "It's just that, when I mentioned Petalburg Woods, it reminded me of before . . ."

"Before you were half Mightyena?"

I nodded but did not speak. Proteus had taken so much away from me and I wasn't sure if I'd ever be able to get it back. Because of what I was, I would be forced to hide in the woods, an outcast from society, my only companions being others who had suffered my fate. And what was it all for? What did Proteus want with us? I didn't know, but I did know that, after the last escape, Number 1 would not give up searching for us.

"We're coming over Petalburg now," said Atsuko's voice. Distracted from my thoughts, I listened as he spoke to us. "Now, all I have to do is find somewhere to land this thing . . ."

"Preferably somewhere out of sight," added Zeod.

I knew exactly what he meant. If I saw a bunch of hybrids landing a plane, I'd be on the phone to the tv stations faster than you could say "Master Ball". And, once the media found out about us, it would not take long for Proteus to realise where we were. None of us wanted to take that risk, so we had to stay hidden whatever happened.

I took a quick glance out of the window and saw that we were flying over a park. It was evening, so there weren't too many people about. Still, we couldn't take too many chances . . .

"Try to land behind those trees," I told Atsuko, pointing to a stand of poplars.

Atsuko did as directed and we were soon back on solid ground. But, as the plane came to a halt, a disturbing thought occured to me - what should we do about the guards?

* * *

**Atsuko**

As I landed the plane on the ground, I tuned out what the others were talking about. It wasn't my business anyway. All I knew is that we couldn't possibly stay here for long. Any person with the right sense of mind would know that planes don't naturally land in the park, especially without a legal runway. It wouldn't be very long until the plane was reported. We couldn't stay here; this much I knew.

I swished my tail in annoyance as I turned to look at everyone, closing the door to the cockpit behind me. "We can't stay here," I said in almost a bored tone. "And I don't think we can afford to stay together. Proteus is probably expecting us to stay in one large, easy to find and capture group. If anything, I think we should split into smaller groups and, if people wanna go solo, then by all means go solo. As for the guards . . ." I cast my completely red gaze towards the door. " . . . I don't really care. Lock 'em in and burn it, I suppose; we can't give them the chance to report back to Proteus," I said coldly.

"Setting the plane on fire is a bad idea, actually. The trees will catch fire - we'd be causing more destruction than needed, not to mention attracting even more attention to ourselves," Alana piped up.

"Well, does anyone have any better suggestions? Speak up, people! We haven't got as much time as I'd like; they're bound to notice we've landed within a few minutes." I gazed around at the others, waiting for a response.

* * *

**Matt**

"Well," I said, tapping my head in thought, "burning it is definitely a bad idea, too much attention."

I tried to think as fast as I could; we were running out of time. I closed my eyes, thinking of anything I could. WE definately couldn't stay here for too long, so where could we go? I thought as hard as I could, trying to figure out where we could go. And we couldn't all stay together; it'd be too obvious. But after a few seconds, I finally hit an idea I thought might work.

"How about this?" I said slowly, "We could go to Fortree City. It's mostly undeveloped there - I've been there before. Then we would be safe for a while. And, if we do decide to split up, there are several ways there."

I let it soak in for a second before continuing. "Everybody has their own way of moving faster. Anybody that can use Teleport can teleport themselves, anyone that can fly, flies there and swimmers can swim. Everybody else can take their time and walk. It'll take longer, but it's easier than everybody together. And, then, once everybody gets there, we could decide on a final plan and just take it from there."

"As for the agents, lock 'em up and leave 'em here. As long as they don't get out and tell Proteus what happened, they're no threat to us. So what do ya think?" I finished.

* * *

**Jason**

"They have already noticed us; you don't fly over a park without people wondering why a plane is suddenly only forty feet above their heads," I said. "Also, leave the agents there with their minds intact and we'll be hunted by Proteus and the police. We could get our 'Zam buddy to mind wipe 'em or utterly destroy them. Either way works because, if their minds are destroyed, then us more humanoid ones can pretend to be humans who were flying mental cases to hospital. Then, when nobody is looking, we'll slip away. I'm sure that one of the Proteus guards has a trenchcoat."

I quickly glanced at the door. "As to going somewhere, we should head to a port. If we can get to Johto or Kanto, then Proteus will never see us again. I'm sure that a few world renouned researchers could cure us - cause it's either that or we destroy Proteus from the inside so Number 1 will be force to cure us."

* * *

**Alana**

We didn't have much time. We had to make a decision - and soon.

I had to admit that Jason was probably right about wiping the guards' minds, but his other suggestion troubled me. We were all obviously hybrids so, in order to pass as human, we would have to keep our Pokemon features hidden somehow. I, for example, could hide my ears under a hat and use shades to cover my eyes. But that still left me with the problem of hiding my nose and tail.

And what were we to do about those of us who were less humanoid than the others? No, pulling off Jason's plan would be easier said than done. I turned to face everyone.

"Here's what we'll do," I said. "Luke, use Amnesia on the guards - make them forget everything that's happened in the last few hours. Then, we'll make a run for it and find somewhere to hide. And, Atsuko, I think we better had stay together. If we split up, we'll be vulnerable to any lurking Proteus agents . . ."

"Alana," Zeod cut in, "that's all very well, but that still doesn't solve the problem of this." He gestured towards the plane.

"There's no time to worry about that right now!" I told him. "We've got to get out of here! Besides, it's well out of sight and . . ." I broke off as I realised someone was lurking nearby.

"Hey!" I called. Then, heedless of the danger, I ran after the retreating figure, readying a Shadow Ball as I did so. The ball of black energy caught the stranger in the back and knocked her to the ground. It was only then that I noticed her face looked somewhat like a Dewgong's . . .

* * *

**Zeod**

"It can't be . . . It's one of the escaped hybrids!" I muttered to myself. I hadn't seen them in ages.

* * *

**Alana**

I looked at the Dewgong girl, who was just starting to come around. Her facial features were a strange mix of human and Dewgong. She had the characteristic wide mouth, but there were no teeth jutting over her lower lip. She had a human nose, albeit a somewhat flattened one, and her entire body was covered with white fur. A single horn poked out from her short brown hair.

She groaned and opened her eyes. Dewgong eyes, I noted, even though they were hazel and not black like those of a real Dewgong. "W - what?" she mumbled, looking at me and seeing that I was a Mightyena hybrid. "Where did you come from?"

I put my hand over her flipper; she had no hands of her own. "We're escapees from Proteus, same as you," I told her. I racked my brains, trying to recall the names and hybrid forms of the girls who had escaped before. The Dewgong girl's name was . . . I wasn't sure, but I seemed to recall it being Tammy or something similar. "Oh, and sorry for Shadowballing you, but we're all a little on edge right now." I glanced round at my fellow hybrids.

The Dewgong girl sat up. "That's understandable," she said. "We've been hiding out in Petalburg for ages - I only came here to swim in the lake."

"We?" asked Atsuko, edging closer to her.

She nodded. "Me, Ruby, Belinda and Esther," she replied. "I'm Tanya. And you are . . .?"

She paused, waiting for us to tell her our names. But before we could do so, Alex (the Gengar boy) butted in. "In trouble if we don't get out of here."

He was probably right, I realised. It was only because it was night time that we hadn't attracted any unwanted attention. But, come morning, the sight of several half-Pokemon beings hanging around in the park was bound to attract attention. And, if Proteus found out where we were . . .

I turned to Tanya. "Lead the way!"

* * *

**Zeod**

"Hey, Tanya. I'm Zeod - nice to meet you," I said as we moved. Then I noticed she had flippers instead of hands. "It must be fun to swim. Since I'm fused with a Ponyta, I can't because, if my fire goes out, I'll die," I added with a hint of gloom in my voice.

* * *

**Matt**

As we continued walking, I too noticed the flipper hands and that she had swum in a lake.

"I haven't swum for a while," I said to myself, forcing cool water from my body to cool myself off, making it easier to think. We hadn't seen these girls for a while and they seemed to have been living here just fine. Now it appeared as though they were going to come with us.

Looking up at the stars, I noted that the moon was full. It was perfectly clear, so you could see everything, which was bad for us as people would have easily been able to see the plane landing.

Thinking back, though, I thought of my Pokemon and hoped that they were still all right. By now, they were probably at a homeless Pokemon shelter and I hoped they didn't get euthanized or anything bad like that.


	5. Chapter Five

**

Chapter Five

**

Alana

As Tanya led us through the backstreets of Petalburg, we were constantly on the alert.

My Mightyena ears were pretty sharp, so I listened out for signs that someone was following us. Meanwhile, Crystal, Alex and Luke used their Psychic abilities to scan the area, searching for anything that didn't sound right, that might mean trouble for us. As for the others, they just did what they could to keep an eye out for trouble - I suppose Atsuko could have scouted from the air, but we didn't want to draw attention to ourselves. But all we heard was the screeching of cat Pokemon fighting over territory.

Presently, we reached an old building with a metal fire escape down the side. Tanya promptly darted up it, seemingly oblivious to the clanging of her footsteps. "Come on!" she called to us from the half-landing. "Do you want to stay out here and be found?"

We all knew the answer to that, so we elected to follow her up the fire escape. Most of us moved as quietly as we could on a metal staircase, but, no matter how hard he tried not to make any noise, Zeod's hooves couldn't help clanging on each step. I held my breath, hoping no-one would hear him. Luckily, no-one did.

After climbing up another flight of stairs, we reached a rather nondescript door. Being a Dark Pokemon hybrid, I was able to see fairly well in low light conditions and I was able to make out that the door was painted a dark colour (I couldn't tell what colour it was) and had a wooden board nailed over where a pane of glass was usually placed. Tanya stepped forward, kicked the door four times with her left foot, paused and followed with three kicks with her right.

"Our secret knock," she told us. "Or secret kick in my case . . ." She looked down at the Dewgong flippers that were her hands.

Moments later, the door opened and a girl peered through the crack. The first thing I noticed about her was that she was part Ledian - she even had an extra pair of limbs growing out of her waist.

* * *

**Matt**

"Why can't anything ever be on the ground?" I said, after having climbed up the steps to the second storey like everyone else.

I looked forward to see the girl kick on the door a few times with one foot, then kick it again with the other. Finally, the door opened up, revealing a girl that looked fairly normal. But, after looking down, I noticed she had a couple of arms at her waist. And I worked out that she must be the part Ledian girl.

After everyone had gotten into the room, I made sure to stay back. The room appeared to be kind of cramped, especially considering there were now over ten people more than there usually were.

Checking out the rest of the room, I could see what appeared to be some sort of oven. In other parts of the room, there were cots set up with sheets on them.

Finally, I realised how tired I was. We had been flying for the past several hours and we had not slept through any of it.

"So how long have you guys been here?" I asked, trying to hurry the conversation to get it over with.

* * *

**Alana**

The Ledian girl was called Esther and she looked fairly normal - at least her face was still recognisably human. But her head was slightly elongated, her eyes were Ledian eyes and, when she removed the baseball cap she was wearing, I saw that she had a red helmet-like thing instead of hair. Her hands (all four of them) were Ledian hands and she had a pair of red wing cases growing from her shoulders.

Anyway, when Matt asked how long she had been here, she paused for a moment before replying. "Since we broke out," she told us. "This whole place is so rundown no-one ever comes here. So we figured we should be able to hide out here for a while . . ."

"But what if you get caught?" I asked. Someone was bound to notice if four Pokemon hybrids moved in next door, especially if those hybrids did so without permission.

"We make sure no-one sees us." Esther looked at us all seriously. "We stay in here during the day and only go out at night if we can help it."

"And, if we do have to go out in daylight, we wear special cloaks," added Tanya. "When Belinda and Ruby get back, I'll . . ." The sound of someone knocking on the door seven times interupted her. "And there they are now," she added. "Esther, get the door."

Esther did so and two more hybrid girls entered. The taller of the two would have looked human had her skin not been the blue-green colour of an Ivysaur. She had shoulder length brown hair with two triangular Ivysaur ears sticking up; her human ears had, like mine, disappeared. She had Ivysaur eyes, but her face was otherwise normal. And, on her back, she carried the distinctive flower of an Ivysaur. The other was part Swellow. She had feathers instead of hair, wings instead of arms and a beak instead of a mouth and nose. She also had the distinctive forked tail of a Swellow and her feet (she was wearing sandals) resembled talons.

They stood staring speechlessly at us for a moment. Then, Ruby (the Swellow girl) spoke. "What's going on?"

I elected to speak for the group. "We've escaped from Proteus, just like you," I explained. "I'm Alana and this is Zeod, Crystal, Atsuko, Jason, Matt, Heather, James, Alex and Luke." As I said each name, I pointed to the hybrid in question. "You know Tanya and Esther, of course."

So all fourteen of Proteus' Pokemon hybrids were together again. But making plans for the long term future would have to wait until morning.

* * *

**Zeod**

There came a knock at the door. "Is there anybody in there? I heard the sound of hooves on the steps!" said a voice from outside.

The others all glared at me.

"I couldn't help it," I whispered.

* * *

**Matt**

After listening for a moment, I walked over to the corner and leaned against it. I lay down on the floor in the corner, closing my eyes and trying to go to sleep. It had been a big day. We had gone on a trans-regional flight, escaped Proteus and come all the way here, all in a days work. Considering everything that had happened, it would be even more work trying to get to sleep.

Looking over to the rest of the group, I hoped everyone would be all right. This was serious; we could die or get killed. It was getting more and more real every day.

* * *

**Alana**

I too wondered what was going to become of us. We couldn't stay here forever, but where were we going to go? And would we ever be truly be free of Proteus?

Those questions and many others circulated through my mind all night. I longed to lead a normal life again, but I knew that would be impossible as long as we were hybrids. Proteus would not give up on us easily and, even if they did, even if we managed somehow to get away from them, the whole cycle would only start over. A new batch of kids would be kidnapped and turned into half Pokemon freaks. I was not about to let that happen to anyone.

But what could we do? What chance did we have against an organisation like Proteus? "Very little," I thought grimly as I struggled to get to sleep. Unless, of course, we actively turned on Proteus, using the abilities they had given us to bring about the organisation's downfall . . .

"Poetic justice, eh?" I whispered to myself. I could just picture myself advancing on Number 1, ready to give him a taste of the Mightyena Attacks his scientists had given me.

* * *

**Zeod**

I could tell what Alana were thinking by the expression on her face as she thought.

"I'm going to go ahead and stake out their moves. You guys would be better off without me anyways. My hooves are always making noise and that would get you caught. If I somehow get captured, I will tell them that you went to Lavaridge Town, so don't go there. Plus, I have Pony to watch my back," I said, getting ready to leave.

* * *

**Jason**

I was sitting in the corner. So much had happened.

All I wanted to do was get to Goldenrod and continue my life there. I had been content living in my badlands hotel place, but Proteus would search there.

"Well, it seems as though I can't go back to Goldenrod until Proteus is buried alive. It's time for me to stand up against those bullies," I thought as I moved around.

I slowly drifted off to sleep, awaiting the new dawn.

* * *

**Alana**

I saw Zeod get up to leave.

Something told me that he was making a mistake, that I had to stop him. I staggered to my feet and ran after him. "Zeod, wait!" I called. "Look, are you sure about this?"

He nodded. "My hooves are too noisy - I'd just be a liability to you all."

"That can't be helped," I told him. "What's important right now is taking care of Proteus - and we can't do that unless ALL of us work together. Besides, how long do you think you'd last on your own?"

_"As long as I'm watching his back."_

I jumped back with a start; in all the recent excitement, I had forgotten about Pony. But, if Pony was a part of Zeod . . . "Pony," I said levelly, "if anything happens to Zeod, it'll happen to you too. We can't risk losing anyone. Look, we'll have a meeting in the morning to discuss our plans and decide what to do then."

"OK," Zeod said doubtfully.

I could see didn't like this any more than I did, but there was no alternative. Only if we all stuck together would we stand any chance against Proteus. "Besides," I added, "it's late. Whoever knocked on the door a few minutes ago probably thinks they were imagining things." At least I hoped so . . .

* * *

**Zeod**

"I don't see how I could help! The only thing I'm good at is heating things or setting stuff on fire!" I snapped back.

"You would be putting us in more danger by leaving now," Alana said.

"Fine! I'll wait for the meeting," I said, crossing my fingers. "But I need to go get some air. My flames need oxygen to survive," I said calmly, heading towards the door. When I got onto the ledge, I shut the door and jumped off. Then I broke into a sprint.

_"What are you doing? You told Alana that you would wait,"_ Pony said.

"I crossed my fingers!" I snapped back as we arrived at the lake.

_"Well, you're going to have to be as ruthless as you were in the old days,"_ Pony said sarcastically.

"Don't worry, I will," I said as my flames got big from rage.

* * *

**Matt**

I pretended to be asleep as I listened to the conversation between Alana and Zeod. Something about him wanting to leave, and her not wanting him to yet . . . I rolled over as Zeod walked out the door. I could hear the sound of hooves stomping across the ground. I figured he was just going for a run.

The next day, when Zeod still hadn't returned, people were starting to get worried.

"We can't go looking for him now. It's light out, and there's no way we could all pose as normal human," Someone said.

They were right, I thought to myself. If we went out in the day, we'd surely be found out.

* * *

**Zeod**

I passed the lake where we had first met Tanya.

"I used to love swimming, but I can't now. That's one more thing to go after Proteus for," I said, stopping at the lake to watch the Water Pokemon. That was my one mistake that caused all the problems. A tranquilizer dart seeped into my shoulder and I fell in a heap.

_"Zeod!"_ Pony yelled. _"ALANA!"_

* * *

**Alana**

After Zeod left, I grew anxious, fearing that something was going to happen to him. I just had to follow him and I told Belinda as much. She disappeared into the next room and returned minutes later with a wide-brimmed hat and a coat.

"Put these on," she told me. "It'll hide your Pokemon features."

I did as she told me, but I still felt as though people were staring at me as I slipped through the streets of Petalburg. I remembered my previous visit to this city, when I was still fully human and training my Pokemon, the Pokemon I had lost when Proteus caught me. Now, however, I was a freak hiding in shadows, fearing discovery. Still, at least people weren't staring at my hybrid features . . .

Nonetheless, it was an unnerving experience. I feared that, at any moment, someone would yank off my disguise and expose me for what I was. By mid-morning, I still hadn't found any trace of Zeod and that worried me. I was still humanoid in appearance, so it was easier to hide the parts of me that had changed when I was injected. Zeod, however, had been turned into a centaur, meaning there was no concealing what he was.

"Zeod, you idiot!" I muttered. "If you get yourself caught . . ."

At that moment, my sharp Mightyena hearing picked up the sound of someone calling my name. It was coming from the direction of the park where we met Tanya, but it wasn't a human voice. It was Pony. And that could mean only one thing . . .

"Oh my God!" I thought. Zeod was in trouble. I had to race back and warn the others, hopefully without being caught myself.

* * *

**Matt**

Morning had come and there was still no sign of Zeod or Alana. Almost everybody was getting anxious and hungry, not a good combination when you're part Pokemon . . . Though Ruby brought out some of their stores of food, I soon realised that there wouldn't be enough for everyone. There was plenty of food for four, but not now there were more than ten of us.

"We need to go," I said. "There's not nearly enough food for everyone here - and we need to find Alana and Zeod."

So a party was formed. Only three people that could blend easily would be allowed to go, two to get food and one to get Alana and Zeod. I immediately stepped forward and volunteered to look for Zeod and Alana.

As the three of us set out, I dove into the river. After floating and watching the other two walk away, I dove under the water and began my search. I could use the attuned sense of weather from my Swampert side to find them.

Minutes passed and still nothing. But, then, there was something. A boy ran over to the edge of the river and began pointing straight at me. I quickly tried to hide as a tall girl walked up behind the boy and plucked a Poke Ball from her belt. I guessed she was a trainer and she must be challenging him.

Now trying to swim away even faster, I detected a pulse of electricity pass by him. Even though I was part Ground, I could still feel electricity. But this had gone too far. Floating to the surface, I faced the trainer and leapt out of the water. On the ground before the girl sat a Jolteon.

"It's so ugly! It must be some deformed Swampert," the boy said.

"It's those fucking nuclear power plant guys! I knew they were making the water radioactive," the girl said. "We better catch it and show it to the mayor. Jolteon, return! Go, Pidgeot!"

I knew what to do. I reared back and shot a stream of mud at the Pidgeot, causing it to lose altitude. Now it was on the ground, I quickly fired an Ice Beam, freezing the mud and immobilizing the Pidgeot. While the girl and the boy stood dumbfounded, I jumped back into the river and swam away.

But what I didn't see was the girl plucking a Ball from her bag and tossing it at me. Before I knew what was happening, I was floating down the river, trapped in a Poke Ball.

* * *

**Zeod**

I woke up in a dark room with a light shining right over my head. There were Proteus agents surrounding me with guns ready if I tried to escape. My arms and legs were tied to the chair. Then I noticed something; it was a wooden chair.

"This will be easy to burn through," I thought. Then I realized that I should wait for a good moment.

"Zeod Suriyamma, we have been looking for you since your escape. With your training, you would be able to help the others. So, tell us what we want to know or we will make this as painful as possible. This will be painful either way because of your betrayal," the group's leader said, stepping out of the shadows.

"Sure, whatever you want," I said, acting scared.

"Good. First question, where are the others?"

"What others?"

"You know damn well who the others are!"

"Watch your language. That kind of talk makes me angry. You won't like me when I'm angry."

"Get angry - I want to see your fire."

"Fine," I said. I gave a loud cackle.

Then, my flames leaped into the air and engulfed the room. When they died down, a pile of ask stood where the chair was and I was in a big fire ball. This soon died and they opened fire on me as I rushed towards the door. I got hit in the leg twice.

I ran down the hall and used my fire to blast down guards in the way. I soon found the way out. It was on the outskirts of town and I could see our building. Instead, I ran the other way so the others wouldn't be put in danger by my trail of blood.

* * *

**Alana**

Could things get any worse? We had barely escaped from Proteus and Zeod's decision to leave the group could land us all in trouble. I knew we had to find him, but I didn't know where to look. Then, as I passed the river, I saw something caught in the reeds.

I looked closely. It seemed to be a Poke Ball, but what was it doing here? Had someone tried to catch a Water Pokemon only to miss and see their Poke Ball get stuck in the reeds? And what would happen if I, a Pokemon hybrid, touched it? Would I get sucked inside?

I did not want to take that chance, but something told me I had to get it out. Fortunately, there was a large branch on the bank, so I picked it up and used it to push the reeds aside. Then, I grabbed the Poke Ball, feeling its weight in my hand. I had not held a Poke Ball since my days as a human trainer . . .

Suddenly, it vibrated in my hand and Matt burst out of it in a flash of light. I jumped, startled. "M - Matt!" I stammered. "W - what's going on!"

"Long story," he told me. "But, basically, some kid threw a Poke Ball at me - luckily, it floated away."

"And, luckily, I came along," I added. "But what were you doing out here anyway?"

"Looking for you and Zeod." Matt looked at me for a moment. "You haven't seen him have you?"

"No. I heard Pony calling my name, but that's about it."

"You think he's in trouble?"

I shrugged. "I can't say. Pony sounded kind of . . . frightened, as if Zeod was in danger," I explained. "I was just heading back to tell the others."

"Well, now that I've found you, let's get back," said Matt. "We can discuss what to do about Zeod later."

I hesitated, fearing it might already be too late. I don't know how, but I somehow knew that Proteus had taken Zeod. But did they still have him and, if not, where was he? This would take time; we would need to make a plan of action. But I wasn't about to give up.

"OK," I agreed. "We'll discuss this as soon as we get back."

Fortunately, Matt and I didn't run into anyone on the way back to our hiding place, which gave me time to think. If Matt had been caught in a Poke Ball, it must mean he had the Poke Gene. I didn't quite understand how that worked, only that it was what enabled Pokemon to be caught in Poke Balls. So did that mean we all had the Poke Gene? And what would happen if Proteus figured that out? I shuddered at the thought.

When we arrived at our hiding place, we gave the secret knock and Belinda let us in. Everyone else (except Zeod of course) was here and I could see that someone had been for pizza; my guess was Crystal and/or Jason, who were both fairly human-looking. Grabbing a slice of Vegetarian Deluxe (my favourite) I sat down. It didn't occur to me to wonder where they got it from or how they paid for it; I suppose I was too hungry.

Once we had all eaten our fill, we sat down to discuss what to do next.

* * *

**Zeod**

I ran towards the woods. There, I would be somewhat harder to find.

I made a sling from vines and leaves. "There. That will stop the bleeding. Now, back to town," I said, running towards the building.

I got there without any problems. "Hi, guys," I said, limping in.


	6. Chapter Six

**

Chapter Six

**

Jason

"Nice to see you're back without any Proteus goons on your trail," I said.

I finished my slice of pizza and got up to go look at a few books that the place had. I could read fairly well and I never skipped the big words; I kept trying to pronounce them until I got them correct.

The book I chose was a Geographical View on Hoenn, a book that explained a lot about what could be found in Hoenn and what areas there were to live in or - in our case - hide out. I sat down in the corner, skimmed through the pages and started to read.

* * *

**Matt**

As Zeod walked in, I noticed he had a few leaves on him. As I brushed them off, I suddenly got an idea. "Whoa!" I said all of a sudden "I can't believe I forgot."

"Forgot what?" Alana said, in a bit of shock.

"I've got a Secret Base near here. I made it a long time ago and it's got tons of space. It would be perfect for everyone to stay at till we figure things out. So what do you think?" I finished, looking around at everyone. "It's in the side of a mountain, so it should be hidden. And no-one knows about it but me. Plus, I stocked it with some food. It's also quite comfortable, with mats, tables and chairs."

* * *

**Zeod**

I winced as Matt brushed the leaves off. Then, my bullet wounds were exposed. "I never said I got out in one piece," I said with a fake smile.

* * *

**Alana**

Esther dabbed some Potion she'd got from somewhere on Zeod's wounds. "There," she said. "That should help."

I had to admit that Zeod had been fairly lucky. The bullets had glanced off him so there was not too much damage. But that wouldn't do us much good if Proteus showed up again, so it was best if we did as Matt suggested and hid out in his Secret Base.

"Lead the way," I said to Matt. I was as anxious as the rest of us to get out of this place. Don't get me wrong - Petalburg is a nice city. But it brought back memories of my life before Proteus caught me; just looking at the Gym reminded me of how I had once stood outside it, ready to take on Norman and his Pokemon. Now, however . . .

But Matt shook his head. "Er, maybe we should wait till it's dark - especially after what happened earlier."

I nodded reluctantly. "OK," I agreed. "Meanwhile, we'd best get prepared in case Proteus show up."

The day was long, but nothing happened. Finally, it was night, time for us to make our escape. So we slipped out of the building we had been hiding in and began to make our way through the streets of Petalburg. Matt took the lead - he was the only one who knew where his old Secret Base was - and Alex and I were right behind him. Most of the others walked behind the three of us, while Atsuko, Esther and Ruby elected to fly.

All the while, we kept on the alert, watching and listening for any lurking Proteus agents . . .

* * *

**Matt**

Continuing along for a while, I constantly looked around, with that paranoid feeling always hanging with me. This continued for quite a while, everyone finally making their way down towards the beach. Now feeling a bit safer, as we were quite a distance away from town now, I decided it was all right to move a little bit faster. At a slow run, I continued forward, with everyone following through the cold night, carrying all the things from the apartment.

Now, along the side of where the grass stopped and the sand began, the ground began to jut up so that the grass was higher than the sand. After a while of this, the ground was several feet over my head. We were finally there.

I walked up to a large boulder, sliding it aside a bit and revealing an opening in the wall of rock. As I stepped inside, chiming noises could be heard from the music mats I had bought. Now, letting everyone else inside, I was forced to take the mats off the floor as they created some quite loud noises with everyone walking on them at once.

Going to the back of the room while everyone dumped their stuff in corners and against walls, I hit a switch, turning on a few lights. There, in the back, was my old slide. Fence pieces lined most the walls. And there were rock tables on their sides in the very back. "OK, everybody, make yourselves at home. And welcome to my Secret - well, not secret anymore - Base," I said, walking up the stairs of the slide and jumping behind it. I then pulled out a few boxes, sliding them down the slide. "Here's some food."

Picking up another box, I opened it, revealing a Mudkip doll. I touched it as I remembered long ago when I was still a trainer. I remembered when I got my Mudkip from Professor Birch. It had been one of the best days of my life.

* * *

**Atsuko**

"Being part Flygon has advantages," I muttered to myself, "Even though I only see in red, when I fly way high up I can still see the others down below."

Knowing this, I let a small smile creep across my face, the first real one in days. I soared up higher, being careful to keep an eye on where Matt was headed yet enjoying myself at the same time. The feeling of flight amongst the clouds in the sky felt much more invigorating than flight within the large battle arena back at Proteus. I have to admit I was pretty disappointed when I saw the group stop in front of a large boulder, indicating that our trip was over.

I backed off a bit and just let myself drop. I plummeted towards the ground and, at the last moment, spread out my wings and flapped them powerfully, landing softly in the swirl of sand that I had kicked up. Coughing, I muttered about how great it was that I had landed a few good feet away from the others and followed the group as they went inside. I could hear musical notes sounding off as we stepped inside of the cave.

Matt was busily picking the music mats up; what with everyone stepping on them at once they made a bit too much noise. He tossed a couple boxes down a slide in the back, stating that they contained food. Being the hungry person that I was, I promptly walked up to the first box, picked it up and placed it on one of the rock tables nearby. I flicked out one of my clawed index fingers and carved the box open, wondering what kind of food was inside.

* * *

**Alana**

It looked as though Matt's old Secret Base was going to be home - for the time being at least.

I looked around, noting the items Matt had set out and comparing them to what I would have put in my own Base if I'd ever got round to making one. I knew from someone I met in Lavaridge that Secret Bases were the "in" thing in Hoenn. Trainers would set up "home" in various caves and large trees, but I'd never found anywhere that was to my liking.

I sighed. I was doing it again, dwelling on the past and what I'd planned to do before Proteus caught me. What we need to do right now was concentrate on our present situation. I turned to Atsuko, who was currently checking out the food stocks. "Anything interesting?" I asked.

"Mostly travel food," he told me. "The kind trainers take with them on long trips. Still, at least it'll tide us over . . ."

* * *

**Zeod**

As soon as I walked in, my leg started hurting. This was because it was still sore and hard to walk on. So I went over to a corner and laid down.

* * *

**Alana**

I knew there was no way we could stay here indefinitely. For one thing, Matt's stocks of food wouldn't last very long even if we rationed them carefully. And, with fourteen hybrids sharing the space . . .

I sighed and looked at the others, all either sitting on the floor or leaning against the walls. We needed a plan. We needed some means to take care of Proteus and stop them from turning anyone else into half Pokemon freaks. And the only way I could think of was to take them head-on.

"Guys," I said, "what do you say we do something about Number 1 and his cronies?"

They looked at me doubtfully. "I don't know," Crystal said doubtfully. "Wouldn't that get us into . . .?"

I cut her off before she could finish speaking. "If we don't, who will?" I demanded hotly. "Remember, we're the only ones outside Proteus who know about their experiments - which means we're the only ones who can stop them from doing it again. We have Pokemon abilities and - damn it - we need to use them!"

"So what should we do?" asked James.

"Do!" I echoed. "I'll tell you what we'll "do"! We're going to get Proteus for what they did to us!"

I didn't know why I was ranting on like this. All I knew was that I hated Proteus and wanted to shut them down for good, no matter what the cost to myself or my friends. This, I realised grimly, meant war.

* * *

**Zeod**

"I'll help," I said, waking up when Alana started shouting. "I got a good look at their base when I was there. I might not be much help," I added, looking down at my leg. "But I'll do what I can to help."

* * *

**Alana**

"Thanks, Zeod," I said with a smile. I knew what was bothering him; his leg was obviously still hurting and, even with the use of Potion, it would take at least a few days to heal. Still, that should hopefully give us time to plan this . . .

I turned to look at the others, thirteen kids who, like me, had been transformed into Pokemon hybrids. We were, to put it bluntly, freaks, forced to live in fear of those who had transformed us. Well, not if I could help it - I meant to put an end to Proteus once and for all. And, to do that, we would need to fight them. What did we have on our side?

Well, we had the ability to use the Attacks of the Pokemon we had been blended with, as well as the bond of friendship in adversity. We also had a decent spread of Pokemon Types - Psychic, Poison, Ghost, Dark, Fire, Flying, Dragon, Normal, Water, Grass and Bug. What did we have against us?

An organisation run by a man mad for power, that's what. I didn't know how we were going to do it yet, but Number 1 had to be stopped.

* * *

**Zeod**

I walked to a shelf and grabbed some paper and a pencil. I then sat down in a corner and started drawing.

* * *

**Alana**

I looked across at Zeod. "Hey," I said. "What you drawing?"

He held up the sheet of paper, which showed what seemed to be a building plan. "It's the layout of Proteus' HQ," he explained. "What I remember anyway . . ."

I looked at it closely, then shrugged, reasoning that having even a basic plan of the place would be better than going in blind. In all the time I had been at that . . . place, I had never seen it in its entirity; there were areas we hybrids were never allowed to enter. So Zeod's little map was going to be useful for our plans, especially if used in conjunction with Luke and Crystal's Psychic powers.

"Guys," I said, turning to the others, "I think I have an idea."

"If it involves giving Proteus a good beating, count me in," said Heather. She folded her arms and gave us one of her snaky glares as if to say Proteus would be sorry they ever messed with her.

I held up the map Zeod had drawn and began outlining my plans. "OK, we want to get even with Proteus, right?"

Thirteen heads nodded in unison.

"Well, to do that, we need to strike at the heart of the organisation - in their headquarters. So that means taking a little trip to Rustboro . . ."

This time, I was greeted with the sound of thirteen voices expressing doubts and saying things like: "Nuh-uh! No way! I'm not going back there!" I could understand their doubts, but, as far as I could see, this was the only way.

"We have to!" I insisted. "Otherwise, who's to tell how many more kids will end up . . ." I looked down at my clawed hands, then at the other hybrids. " . . . like us?"

* * *

**Zeod**

As Alana said that, I started drawing another thing. When I got done, I stood up. "If you don't mind my interupting, I have also been working on a ray to turn us back to our old selves. It will take a lot of work and I will also need the stuff Proteus used to mutate us. But, if we can get that, I might be able to fix us," I said, holding up my other drawing.

* * *

**Alana**

"Let's concentrate on getting even with them first," I said cautiously. I had to admit that Zeod's idea sounded good, but we would need our Pokemon abilities if we were going to get revenge on the people that had done this to us.

I turned back to the others. "OK, here's what we'll do. Tonight, we'll take a trip over to Rustboro and check out the Proteus building - there's got to be some weakness we could exploit . . ." I paused, wondering why I was saying all this stuff. I should have been trying to put as much distance as possible between myself and Proteus, not thinking of going back to them. They had destroyed my humanity. They had . . .

"I'm with you, Alana," Crystal said quietly.

"And so am I," added Belinda.

Everyone else nodded. "We're all with you," said Atsuko.

I nodded approvingly and began to explain my plan, a plan which would require both Zeod's plan of Proteus' HQ and the Psychic abilities of Crystal and Luke. We could, I reasoned, use them to find our way into our former prison, hopefully without being detected. It would be risky, but we had little alternative; Proteus had to be shut down before they either recaptured us or caught some more unfortunate test subjects.

I picked up a Duskull doll from a nearby desk, listening to the wailing noise it made as I turned it over. It reminded me of my kid brother's pet Duskull; Jon was mad about Ghost Pokemon and planned to travel to Ecruteak and study under Morty as soon as he was old enough. But would I ever see him again? Would any of us see our families again?

"Alana?"

I looked around and realised it was Matt who had spoken. "Sorry," I said, feeling a little guilty for having touched the toy Duskull. After all, this Secret Base and everything in it were his. "I was just thinking about my family . . ."

"I understand. I think about my family too sometimes."

"It's been nearly two years since I saw mine. And, sometimes, I wonder if they'd recognise me . . . like this." I thought about all the changes the Mightyena DNA had caused in me, in particular the change in my hair colour. "Well," I added after a while, "this just gives us another reason to make Proteus pay!"

I sat down on the floor and waited for night to fall.

* * *

**Zeod**

"I'll keep watch by the door," I said as I slowly made my way to the door with the paper and pencil. I then started doodling.

* * *

**Alana**

That night, we all set off for the place I had hoped never to see again - Proteus HQ. As I walked with my fellow hybrids, I felt as though every step was taking me ever closer to somewhere I did not want to be. But we had no choice as far as I could see - unless we dealt with Proteus soon, there was no telling what evils they might end up committing.

I was kind of starting to like being part Mightyena; it was really cool being able to use Pokemon Attacks. The only downside was the people - if you can call them that - who had caused me to become like this. They wanted to exploit me, to exploit all of us, and they had to be stopped. And, to do that, we would need to use the powers we had acquired. I wondered if the guy I attacked in the battleroom was still around - I so wanted to finish what I had started that day.

To get to Rustboro from Petalburg, we would need to cut through Petalburg Woods and would need all our wits about us. I remembered from my days as a Pokemon trainer that the place was a popular haunt for Bug and Grass trainers . . . That thought made me pause and look at Esther and Belinda, wondering how these Bug and Grass trainers might react if they saw them. I knew I'd be pretty surprised if I saw an anthropomorphic Ivysaur and a giant Ledian.

"OK," I said, turning to the others as we neared the entrance to the Woods, "I'll lead the walking hybrids into the trees. Atsuko, Esther and Ruby, you three can fly above the canopy - just be careful to stay out of sight. We'll meet up in Rustboro."

I looked at the others, my gaze falling for a moment on Zeod. I knew having him enter a forest would be perfectly safe, since Fire Pokemon can control the temperature of any body flames they might have.

* * *

**Zeod**

"Don't worry, I will control my flames," I said as I saw Alana look at me.

* * *

**Jason**

As I walked along with the others, I decided my best bet would be to stay in the shadows, so I moved to the side near the trees so that the people in Petalburg Wood would not spot me. "When we get to the base and finish off the Proteus goons may we please not damage the equipment?" I said. "It may be our only chance of turning back into our original selves."

"And my only chance of getting a good life . . ." I added in my mind.

* * *

**Zeod**

"I'll be handling that. You can help if you want," I offered.


	7. Chapter Seven

**

Chapter Seven

**

Alana

I overheard the conversation Jason and Zeod were having. "Let's concentrate on getting Proteus first," I said cautiously. "We can decide what to do later."

To be honest, it was kind of cool to be part Mightyena; having the abilities of that Pokemon had given me a whole new perspective on things. For example, I could now hear sounds that were beyond the range of a human, which would be useful in our current situation. It had been hard at first, but I had slowly grown used to it and now I realised how much I would miss it if it was taken away. Maybe, if there was a way to remove the physical traits I had gained while retaining my Mightyena abilities . . .

And, glancing at my fellow hybrids, I started to wonder how many of them felt the same, how many wanted to retain their Pokemon abilities without all the risks and marginalisation of being a hybrid.

One thing was certain, however - we had to deal with the organisation that had done this to us and, for that, we would need our powers.

* * *

**Zeod**

"OK, great leader," I said with sarcasm. I then rode under Alana and tossed her on my back. "Every leader needs a noble steed and I'm the closest . . . thing here," I said.

* * *

**Alana**

"Great leader?" I thought to myself.

I suppose Zeod was right in a way; after all, I was the one who came up with this whole revenge idea in the first place. But his trotting up to me and tossing me onto his horseback had taken me by surprise. I didn't quite know what to say or how to react, but there was one thing that immediately stood out. Zeod's horseback, though covered with flames, felt perfectly normal. There was nothing to indicate that the flames were present.

Then, I remembered something I read once - a Ponyta or Rapidash will never burn anyone it trusts. And, since Zeod was a Ponyta hybrid, the same thing probably applied to him. But that didn't answer why he was acting like a real Ponyta all of a sudden. Was the Pokemon part of him taking over? If so, we would have to act fast.

Just then, Crystal ran up to us, with Luke and Alex close behind. "Hurry!" she shouted. "I sense an ambush!" She didn't need to tell me who was going to ambush us.

Sure enough, seconds after she said that, a dozen or so Proteus agents emerged from behind the trees. They were all armed with stun-guns, which they had trained on us, and it looked as though they meant business . . .

. . . and so did we. "Let me down," I told Zeod. Then, as I dismounted, I called to my fellow hybrids, telling them to get their best Attacks ready. It was time to fight.

* * *

**Zeod**

"Let's heat things up, shall we?" I said sarcastically. I lit my hand on fire and ran by the goons, making their guns too hot to touch.

* * *

**Alana**

"ARGGH!" cried the Proteus goons as Zeod heated up their guns and they were forced to throw them down.

But our triumph was short lived. Just as we were starting to congratulate Zeod on a job well done, the agents all pulled out their Poke Balls and threw them. With a collective flash of light, several powerful-looking Pokemon appeared before us. "Did you brats think we'd come unprepared?" asked one of the agents, a tall man who stood behind a Hitmonchan. He looked directly at me. "Hitmonchan! Use Firepunch on the Mightyena girl!"

Hitmonchan drew back his fist as flames suddenly built up around it. I had to act fast, not least because, as a Dark Type hybrid, I had a disadvantage against a Fighting Type like Hitmonchan. So I had to strike hard and fast, using my non-Dark Attacks. I decided to start with Sand Attack and, in the seconds before Hitmonchan launched his Fire Punch, I sent a cloud of sand into his face. Hitmonchan coughed, unable to see where I was, and I quickly decided to follow through with Iron Tail.

I focused all my energy on the thick black tail growing out of my rear, feeling it beginning to glow as it hardened. Then, I turned my back on Hitmonchan and prepared to whack him with my tail. "Hitmonchan! Agility!" called the agent who was Hitmonchan's trainer.

My tail struck nothing but air as Hitmonchan dodged to one side. The next thing I knew, he was in front of me, preparing to use Thunderpunch; I could tell because of the way his fist was crackling with electricity. I had to act fast. Thunderpunch was a very powerful Attack, as I knew from personal experience; a Raichu once knocked out my Combusken with that move. I decided to try a Sand Attack again.

"I'm afraid that won't work twice!" Hitmonchan's trainer said when he saw sand whipping up around me. "Hitmonchan! Seismic Toss!"

Before I could react, Hitmonchan grabbed me and lifted me over his shoulder. I froze, wondering what it would feel like to be slammed brutally against the ground . . .

* * *

**Zeod**

"Well, I guess it's my turn," I said, using Fire Punch in Hitmonchan's face. This knocked him down and also released his hold on Alana. I waited below her to try to reduce the damage of the fall.

* * *

**Alana**

"Phew!" I breathed as Zeod saved me from getting Seismic-Tossed. "I didn't know Ponyta could learn Fire Punch."

Zeod grinned at me. "Well, Ponyta don't usually have fists. Anyway, let's take care of this pest," he added, rearing up on his hindlegs and preparing to use Stomp on the Hitmonchan.

I decided to create a diversion by using Double Team. I focused and, as if by magic, another Mightyena hybrid appeared beside me, then another, then another. Hitmonchan was clearly confused - which one should he attack? There were four Alana Willises in front of him, but only one was made of flesh and blood. The rest were simply illusions.

"What are you waiting for, Hitmonchan!" snarled the Proteus agent. "Just knock out all the fakes!"

Hitmonchan moved to do so, turning in the direction of one of my duplicates. In the seconds before he struck, I acted.

"Now!" I called to Zeod.

In response, Zeod sent his hooves crashing down on Hitmonchan's head. Hitmonchan was on the ground, but he wasn't knocked out - at least not until I sent him flying with a well-aimed Tackle. His trainer growled with fury as he recalled his fallen Pokemon, then pulled out another Poke Ball. "You punks just got lucky!" he told us. "Very well, try your luck against . . . this!"

He threw the Ball and we watched as the Pokemon within emerged in a flash of light. Then, as the light faded, I recognised the Pokemon as a Tyranitar, a Tyranitar I had seen before . . .

"Oh crap!" I muttered to Zeod as I recognised the Tyranitar which had once given me a severe beating back at Proteus' HQ. "What can we do against this thing!"

One thing was certain - we needed Matt, Belinda or Tanya to help us since they all had a Type advantage against Tyranitar. Unfortunately, all three were busy with battles of their own.

* * *

**Zeod**

"Well, I guess we have to do this ourselves. I wonder if I can use Fighting moves . . . Let's try a Cross Chop!" I said, rushing up to the Tyraniatar.

* * *

**Alana**

I watched as Zeod launched himself at the Tyranitar, wondering exactly what he hoped to acheive with such a reckless move. There was no way a Ponyta hybrid could be compatible with Cross Chop.

"Hyper Beam!" shouted the Proteus goon in the seconds before Zeod attacked.

And the Tyranitar opened its mouth and blasted the area with a powerful beam of light, a beam so powerful that it knocked all the hybrids within range flying. I saw Crystal catapulted through the air to land in a pained heap some distance away, while Jason and James ended up in a nearby tree. As for Zeod and myself, we were closest to the thing so we both got the full force of its attack.

That's the last thing I remember before I woke up to find myself in a cell. I had no way of telling where it was, only that it had no windows and the only light in the place came from the flickering glow of Zeod's flames. I groaned and sat up, rubbing my head. "W - where am I?" I asked.

Tanya walked up to me, a concerned expression etched on her Dewgong face. "I'm afraid Proteus caught us," she told me. "We're back at their Headquarters now."

I frowned with fury as I heard her words. How, after all the trouble we had gone to in order to get away from Proteus, could we have let ourselves get caught again so soon? And what were they planning to do with us? I didn't know, but I did know that whatever they did was bound to be bad. We would have to fight our way out.

"Quick, you guys!" I said as I tried to stagger to my feet. "Let's . . ." Then, I felt my limbs sag and I had to sink back down again.

"Don't try to get up," Ruby warned me.

"Well, we've got to do something!" I insisted. "We can't let Proteus get away with this!" Then, as I looked round at the flickering faces of my fellow hybrids, I had an idea. "Luke," I said, "do you know Recover?"

Luke nodded. "But I've never used it on someone else before," he added. Nevertheless, he stepped forward and placed his hands over me. I instantly felt a warm glow inside me as my strength was renewed. Soon, I felt as though I was ready for anything - and that included finishing what we had set out to do in the first place.

"Thanks, Luke," I said as I stood up. I looked around at everyone. "I guess the next order of business is getting out of here . . ."

* * *

**Zeod**

"You know, if there were some metal bars, I could use my fire to make them hot. Then, Tanya or Matt could use a Water Attack to make them cool. It would then just be a matter of having a strong hybrid bend them to get out," I said, standing up.

I fell as soon as I did so. My leg, I soon found out, was twisted around at the knee. "This isn't good," I said, wincing from the pain.

* * *

**Alana**

"Quick, Luke!" I said when I heard Zeod cry out in pain. "Use Recover on Zeod's leg."

Luke did so and Zeod's leg was soon as good as new. Now, all we had to do was work out a way to get out of here before Proteus tried any of their tricks on us. And, to do that, we would have to fight. I turned to the others. "Is there any way out of here?" I asked.

"Only the door," replied Heather. "And that's locked pretty tight."

"Not for long," replied James. He stepped forward and used Strength on the door, pushing against it until it broke on its hinges and we were free . . . Or so we thought because, the second we stepped into the corridor, an alarm went off. It pierced the very air around it, causing us to wince at the high-pitched tones echoing in our ears. With my heightened senses, I found the noise especially hard to bear.

"Can't we shut that noise off!" I cried, covering my ears as we ran down the corridor. It wasn't only the noise of the alarms that worried me; I also knew that, before too long, someone from Proteus was bound to show up. It was clear now that the door to our cell had been wired to the alarm . . .

"That's the source of our problem!" called Belinda, pointing to a security camera in the ceiling. "We'll have to knock it out!"

"You got it!" cried Crystal as she powered up for a Psychic Attack. Her body glowed as she focused all her energy on the camera, willing it to break. But it didn't; it continued to stare down at us, filming our every move. All the while, the alarms continued to blare.

"Crap!" I said out loud as I realised the camera must be Psychic-proof. "We'll have to try something else."

"I'll try," said Jason. He raised his arms and, using his powerful Zangoose claws, proceeded to tear the camera from its wall bracket. I grinned at him; having a Zangoose hybrid around was certainly useful. Even Heather, with her innate mistrust of Zangoose, had to admit that. Anyway, just as we had hoped, the alarm stopped the second the camera was removed, but that wasn't the end of our troubles . . .

In the space where the camera used to be, a strange device was now revealed. It consisted of a grey box with wires sticking out of it and an LED display which was relentlessly counting down the seconds. _"Warning! Warning!"_ a robotic voice chanted. _"Security has been violated! Destruction in fifteen minutes and counting!"_

We had activated a booby trap.

"Great!" I thought, wondering what else could go wrong for us. "Is there any way we could stop it?"

Crystal and Luke shook their heads. "It's wired up pretty tight," Luke told us. "I can sense that it would take at least twenty minutes to defuse it - and that's if we used our Pokemon abilities."

"And twenty minutes is something we don't have," I said. There was nothing else for it; we would have to fight our way out. All fourteen of us . . .

* * *

**Zeod**

"Well, I could try to melt it," I offered. Without waiting for an answer, I ignited my hands.

With a primal scream, I thrust them at the device. After a while, I could feel that it had heated. But I wasn't sure if the insides of the machine were melted . . .

* * *

**Alana**

_"Warning! Destruction in fourteen minutes and twenty seconds!"_

Clearly, Zeod's attempt to melt the device hadn't worked, so we now had to get out as fast as possible. "Let's move!" I called to the others, noticing that some of them were staring at the device as though hypnotised.

"Er, Alana," said Ruby, "how do we find our way out?"

"Let's at least get clear of this thing," I told her. "When we've done that, Crystal and Luke can use their Psychic abilities to find the exit. You got that?" I said to the two Psychic Pokemon hybrids.

They nodded in unison.

"Good - now, come on!"

We sprinted down the corridor, determined to get out of this place no matter what, hoping we wouldn't run into any Proteus agents. All the while, that robotic voice continued to echo in our ears.

_"Warning! Destruction in thirteen minutes and fifty-nine seconds!"_

This whole thing seemed like one of those movies where a bomb had been timed to go off and the heroes had to either deactivate it or get everyone clear before it blew. It would have seemed laughably cliched had we not been directly involved. Not that it mattered; if we didn't get out of here, we would be in serious trouble.

* * *

**Zeod**

_"Go back and get the shiny thing!"_ Pony screamed in my mind.

He loved shiny things; once, he made me fill my room at the Trainers' School with Magnemites and Magnetons because they were shiny. But, anyways, he took over and I ran back to get the bomb.

"Pony, no!" I yelled at him.

_"But it's so shiny,"_ he whined.

Maybe the others could help me out here . . .

* * *

**Alana**

"Zeod! Snap out of it!" I shouted, slapping Zeod in the face.

He blinked and looked at me. "Sorry, Pony took over for a moment there," he told me.

"Well, try to control it - we've got to get out of here before that bomb goes off." Plus, we still had to deal with Proteus for what they had done to us; I did not need to be told that Zeod's Pokemon side was starting to take over. And that worried me - if he was having this problem, how long would it be before the rest of us started to lose our human selves?

"No!" I said fiercely as we ran down the corridor. "That won't happen! We'll get . . ."

I was cut off abruptly as I realised the hybrids in front of us (Matt, Atsuko and Tanya) had come to a halt. But what were they waiting for? Had they forgotten that we had to escape? "Hey!" I shouted, trying to attract their attention. But, just then, Matt moved slightly and I saw for myself why they had stopped running.

A entire phalanx of Proteus agents, some armed with stun-guns and others with Poke Balls, blocked our path.

"Oh crap!" muttered Heather as she and the others realised the trouble we were now in. And, as if things couldn't get any worse . . .

_"Warning! Destruction in ten minutes fifty-five seconds!"_

I knew the last thing we should do with a bomb counting down near us was waste time on a battle, but those Proteus goons had left us with no choice. "Let's do it!" I called to the others as I powered up a Shadowball.

They all cheered as one before launching into their respective Attacks. Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Atsuko and Ruby take off and use Fly to divebomb one of the agents. Then, when he was on the floor, Zeod used his hooves to give him a good kicking. I, meanwhile, felled another with my Shadowball and began looking round for my next target.

Then, the goons recovered from the initial shock and started sending out their own Pokemon. This meant trouble; there were only fourteen hybrids compared to around thirty Pokemon controlled by Proteus agents. But we had to try. We had to take out as many as we could before that bomb went off. I turned to a nearby Mr Mime and began to ready another Shadowball . . .

"Everyone pick a Pokemon you have an advantage against!" I shouted. "If we can't beat them, we can at least make a stand!"

I just hoped this wouldn't be our last stand. If it was, Number 1 would only start over with a fresh bunch of kids. I began to launch my Shadowball . . .

"Mr Mime! Barrier!" the Mr Mime's trainer called in the seconds before I fired my ball of shadowy energy.

The Shadowball left my hands and shot toward the Mr Mime. But, seconds before it made contact, Mr Mime waved his hands and an invisible wall appeared in front of him. My Shadowball struck the Barrier, then reflected straight back at me; I threw myself to the floor and felt the rush as it passed over my head.

Then, I got up. I was not finished yet . . .


	8. Chapter Eight

**

Chapter Eight

**

Zeod

"Bring it on!" I said as I rounded up all of the Grass Pokemon. "This will be fun!" I ignited for the Fire Punches, punching them one by one. They got called back into their Poke Balls.

"Hey, Pony, this is like that game back at the trainers' school, isn't it?" I asked myself.

_"Yep. And there is a Scizor behind you,"_ he said.

I turned around, but, before I could do anything, Scizor had me in his claws by the neck. "Well, this isn't good," I mumbled as I tried to break free.

* * *

**Alana**

I squared off with the Mr Mime. I knew his Psychic Attacks couldn't affect me, but I was wary of what else he might be able to pull off. Such as . . .

"Mr Mime, Double Slap!" ordered the Proteus goon. I froze, recalling how another Mr Mime's Double Slap had once knocked my Jolteon senseless. I had to do something to block it, but what could I do?

In the few seconds before Mr Mime struck me with his large hands, it clicked in my head. Of course - if I could evade the Double Slap, I might be able to take out the Mr Mime on the next turn. I tried a Double Team, creating four clones of myself, then began to power up a Shadowball. Flanked by my doubles, I almost laughed to see the confused look on Mr Mime's face but stopped myself.

"Don't let her fool you, you stupid clown!" bellowed the Proteus goon. "Find the real one! Thunderbolt!"

For a second, I wondered if I'd heard correctly. Then, I recalled that Mr Mime was compatible with Thunderbolt, a powerful Electric Attack. I had to act fast and, just as electricity began to crackle around the Mr Mime's body, I let fly with my Shadowball. The ball of black energy caught Mr Mime full in the chest and knocked him to the floor. He did not get up.

"GRRRRRRRR!" growled the Proteus goon as he recalled his Mr Mime. "Try this on for size!" He got ready to throw another Poke Ball.

"Oh no you don't!" I muttered as I ran at the guy and Tackled him, knocking the Poke Ball out of his hand. It rolled off down the corridor, with the goon I'd just been battling in hot pursuit. It wasn't much, but I'd taken out one of the Proteus Pokemon.

But, looking around, I knew this fight wasn't over yet. All around me, my fellow hybrids were fighting the Pokemon belonging to the Proteus agents. Then, I saw that Zeod was in trouble; a Scizor had him trapped in its claws.

* * *

**Zeod**

"You probably think this is . . . funny, don't you?" I gasped sarcastically. "Well, either way, it's . . . getting kind of hard to breathe!" I managed to get out before my face started turning pale.

* * *

Crystal 

I looked around for my next target - an Umbreon, perhaps? No, I don't have the time for him - he bites hard and is not exactly an advantage.

Since I looked as if I was defenseless, one of the Proteus goons' Pokemon used Submission on me. "Ow!" I cried. A scowl tugged onto my face, signifying pain and pure hatred to whoever attacked me without me being ready. I was on my back after that powerful Submission, finding it hard to get up and move. "Darn it!" I thought. "That Poliwrath paralyzed me!" I tried to get up but couldn't. My Espeon ears were twitching, which meant only one thing . . .

"Poliwrath, Mind Reader!" the Proteus goon commanded.

"If this is going the way I think it's going . . ." I thought, my ears twitching even more. My sapphire eyes widened, fear struck in them. "C'mon. body!" I thought. "Move!" My limbs were unresponsive. "Oh crud!"

"Poliwrath, Use Focus Punch!" the goon commanded.

The tadpole Pokemon came in for a blow. I braced myself, closing my eyelids tightly. I waited five seconds - no hit. I waited ten seconds - no pain in my abdomen. I waited fifteen seconds . . . "Hey, what gives!" I thought. I was expecting a huge helping of pain.

As I opened my eyes carefully, I looked at the Poliwrath that had been about to punch me floating in the air. I looked at myself and saw I was glowing a calming blue, the same color seen on the Poliwrath. Now I got it; I'd used a last-second Psychic Attack, one last defense I always seemed to lose control over. I had to say, though, it was doing quite some damage.

I ended the Attack, flinging the Poliwrath to the walls, giving it some more damage as I got the feeling back into my limbs. I got back up; the battle was just getting started, but time was not on my side . . .

* * *

**Zeod**

"Well, I guess I'm on my own," I said as I kicked some guy who was coming up behind me.

It was then I spied a garbage chute that went down. "Perfect!" I thought as I dropped the bomb down the chute. I then started kicking the Scizor like a maniac, but it had no effect.

* * *

**Alana**

Somehow, even though I'd told him to leave it, Zeod had ripped the bomb away from the wall and thrown it down the garbage chute. I was not very pleased; that thing was still counting down and we still had to get out of here before it blew.

"Zeod, what the hell were you playing at!" I demanded as I used my Scary Face Attack to immobilise a Kadabra.

"Putting that bomb where it can't hurt us," he replied, still trying to take out the Scizor he was attacking.

I was about to tell him exactly what I thought of that, but Crystal (who had been battling a Poliwrath) beat me to it. "Zeod," she said simply, "I've scanned this whole building. The garbage chute leads into a large bin in the basement."

"So?"

"So the bomb is still in the building. And it's gonna blow in just over five minutes . . ."

"And we have to get clear by then," I added grimly, glancing round at my fellow hybrids as they continued to battle. But would we have time to get clear? I didn't know, but we had to get past these Proteus goons if we were to stand any chance of escaping.

Meanwhile, I could see that Zeod wasn't getting very far with the Scizor. "Zeod!" I called, remembering the time I battled my Combusken against a Scizor. "Scizor is Bug/Steel! Try a Fire Attack!"

"What? Oh, right." Zeod launched a Firespin at the Scizor, trapping it in a flaming vortex.

"GRR!" snarled a Proteus agent as Zeod's Attack weakened the Scizor. He pulled out a Poke Ball and pointed it at the Bug/Steel Pokemon. "Scizor, return!"

I watched as the Scizor was sucked into its Poke Ball, relieved that we (or rather Zeod) had managed to take out one of the enemy Pokemon. But my relief was short-lived; we still had to try and take out the rest of the Pokemon belonging to the Proteus agents. And, then, there was the "small matter" of the bomb . . .

Just then, the building shook. "W -what was that!" I cried as I was sent flying and crashed straight into Matt. But he didn't need to reply; I already knew the bomb must have gone off. And, as it turned out, it was lucky it had. Almost immediately, a fire alarm begin to ring loudly somewhere in the building.

As the Proteus goons made a run for it, I turned to the others. "Quick!" I told them. "Let's get out of here!" But would we be able to get out in time? I had seen enough movies about bombings to know that a fireball would be spreading rapidly through the building. We would only have a few moments to get clear . . .

I looked at Crystal and Luke. "Can you two use Teleport?" I asked, reasoning that it would be a lot quicker than trying to run.

Luke shook his head. "Proteus set up a Teleport-proof barrier, remember?"

I swore under my breath. We would have to make a run for it.

* * *

**Atsuko**

"This place has to have one of the stupidest defense systems I've ever seen. One little quirk and the building has to friggin' explode!" I yelled as I hung in the air, wings beating to keep me airborne. "Years of research, paperwork, and technology turned to dust in an instant! With this building gone, we'll have nothing to go on in order to change ourselves back to normal!" I spat bitterly, nailing the hat of a fleeing Proteus agent.

Alarms were blaring wildly now, blasting through my heightened senses. It was actually painful and I could have sworn that, if it had gotten any louder, my ears would have been bleeding. Red lights flashed around us as we ran, though I could barely tell at all, seeing as red was the only color available to me with this mask on my face.

I searched around the walls, trying to find some easier exit out of here. Nobody can outrun an explosion like this one; it'd be too hard to dodge all the debris. My search became more frantic as the seconds passed and I could feel the heat from the fire rising up behind us as I jumped around pieces of ceiling that had begun to collapse. But the only things I could see that gave some idea that we weren't underground anymore were the windows we passed. "Windows!" I thought. "That's it!"

I stopped running and stood back from the wall. I spread my feet and bent my knees, bracing myself for the powerful Attack I was about to use. I stuck out my hands, forming a sort of triangle with my thumbs and index fingers. I narrowed my eyes and began to concentrate. A bright, orange-white energy began forming within the triangle with smaller orbs being sucked from what seemed to be thin air into a larger orb at the center, which continued to grow in size. When the orb was roughly the size of two fists, it stopped absorbing. A split-second later, a large beam of white, outlined with orange, shot from the orb and into the wall.

There was a shattering explosion sound and a hole big enough for one person to walk through could be seen through the dust cloud that had sprung up from the sudden impact of the Attack. "That Hyper Beam was withering . . ." I began to pant from exhaustion, "Everyone get through there and, for the love of Ho-oh, you'd better make it quick!"

* * *

**Alana**

We all hurried to do as Atsuko said, jumping through the window to safety. Fortunately, we were only one storey up from ground level so we didn't have too far to jump. I watched as Ruby and Esther flew out, then waited for Atsuko to follow.

"Atsuko, hurry!" I shouted, seeing him standing in the windowframe. "Before the whole place blows!"

"I - I can't," he told me. "You guys go on without me . . ."

"Oh no you don't!" I shot back. "We can't afford to lose anyone!"

"I'd gladly come if I could, but that Hyperbeam took too much out of me. Th - there's no way I can . . ."

"Yes, there is!" I retorted. I turned to Luke. "Are you able to use Teleport now?"

"Only one way to find out." Luke brought his hands together and focused all his Psychic energy on Atsuko. Atsuko, his body surrounded by a purple glow, drifted out of the window to land directly at my feet.

I smiled at him. "Thanks," I said. "You saved our lives."

Atsuko smiled back. "It . . . it was nothing. Now, let's . . ." Before he could complete his sentence, he swooned suddenly. Clearly, the Hyperbeam he had just used had been a powerful one, powerful enough to leave him exhausted. But there was no time to rest now; we had to escape - and fast.

"C'mon, mate!" Matt was quickly at Atsuko's said. "I've got you!" Between them, he and James helped Atsuko to his feet and let him lean on them. I knew Atsuko would have prefered to fly with Ruby and Esther, but there was no way he could do that in his current condition.

"Run!" shouted Heather.

We ran, Matt and James supporting Atsuko. As we ran, we heard a deafening explosion behind us . . .

KABOOM!

We flung ourselves down and covered our eyes, waiting for the explosion to pass. As soon as it had and all was quiet again, I sat up and glanced round at my friends. "Are you guys OK?" I asked, brushing myself down.

"I'm all right," said Tanya, her white Dewgong fur blackened from the explosion.

"Me too," added Zeod.

Atsuko sat up. "I'm alive too, but barely," he panted. "Just give me time to . . . catch my breath."

So we had escaped from Proteus again, but at what price? With the labs destroyed, our chances of finding a way to get back to normal were slim. This, however, only made me more determined that this was not over yet; we would hunt down any surviving Proteus goons and make them pay for what they had done to us.

I looked back at the blazing ruins of Proteus' Headquarters, remembering everything I had been through there. It seemed so long ago since I arrived in Rustboro as a human trainer, only to be caught and taken to the place that was now being razed to the ground. I remembered it all - waking up to find myself turned into a half-Mightyena creature, the harsh training methods, everything. And I felt a strong sense of anger that we had been forced to suffer this.

But I also felt regret, regret at having been unable to take on Number 1 face to face, regret that the building and everything in was being destroyed so that there was now very little chance of us getting back to normal. I looked at the others as they too stood watching the destruction of our former prison. They were all silent and I could see tears brimming in Crystal's eyes.

"Is it gone?" Heather whispered.

"Guess so," replied Atsuko. "The only thing that puzzles me is why would they want to risk destroying everything?"

I shrugged. "Guess Number 1 wanted to make sure his secret never got out until his work was complete. And, if that meant killing us . . ." I left that last sentence unfinished. Then, I turned to look at everyone. "Let's go," I said. "Before someone comes . . ."

So we were on the move again. But how long would we have to live like this?

* * *

**Zeod**

"Hold on! I got to go check for something!" I said as the dust cleared.

"Zeod, wait!" somebody yelled as I ran. But I wasn't sure who it was.

It didn't take long for me to find the lab. "Now, let's see . . ." I said as I dug through the rubble. Then, I found it - a small vial of what was used to fuse us with the Pokemon. It was shattered, but there was still a small bit left.

"Hey, guys!" I said on returning to the group. "I found something that might help us." I held up the broken vial. "It's not much, but it may help a little bit," I said as I put it in my shirt pocket.

* * *

**Alana**

I thought about the vial Zeod had retrieved. He was right - it wasn't much, certainly not enough for all of us. And besides I had a feeling that Proteus were not finished yet, that some of their number still lurked out there, biding their time. Only when we had dealt with them once and for all could we even think about trying to get back to normal.

"OK, what now?" asked Matt as we took shelter in a disused warehouse on the outskirts of Rustboro.

I shrugged. "I don't know. Try to get as far from here as possible . . ." I paused, thinking over the events of the last few days. "But, if anyone from Proteus is still around, they'll soon find out we escaped and, when that happens . . ."

". . . they'll try to catch us again," Heather concluded bitterly.

"So we'll need to be prepared," I went on. "If we get ambushed again, we'll need to be ready to fight until the end. I don't care what it takes - Proteus must be stopped!" I was shouting by the end of that little speech as all my frustrations, my hatred of the organisation that had made me what I was, boiled to the surface. If I ever got my hands on Number 1, he was a dead man.

First, though, we needed a plan; we couldn't just stay here and do nothing. Ruby turned to Zeod, who was standing nearest to her. "What was in that vial you retrieved?" she asked.

"Some of the stuff they used to fuse us," he replied. "It's not much, but I thought it might help us."

"If we can figure out how to use it," I added. "I don't know about any of you, but I'm not a geneticist. I don't know what effect that stuff will have. It could turn us back into humans or . . ."

". . . it could add another Pokemon fusion," finished Belinda.

I nodded. "Yes, or it could kill us. We need to take this to someone who knows how to deal with it, a Pokemon researcher. Who's the best one round here?"

They paused for a moment before Tanya came up with the answer. "Maybe . . . Professor Birch in Littleroot," she suggested.

So we had our next destination; we would go to Littleroot and speak with Professor Birch. And, hopefully, he would be able to help us. But I was unable to shake the feeling that Proteus still lurked out there somewhere, that they were not about to give up on us . . .

We headed south from Rustboro, taking care not to be spotted by anyone. A lot of the time, this meant hiding out by day and travelling at night, which suited me fine. I was a Mightyena hybrid, after all. The night was in my blood; I felt like I was part of it and I was pretty sure Alex, being a Gengar hybrid, felt the same way. The moon and the stars seemed to call to us in ways no fully human person can ever experience.

"Y'know what?" I ventured one evening as I sat watching a colony of Zubats flying around. "I'm really gonna miss this when I'm human again . . ." I trailed off, recalling all that had happened to me in the past eighteen months, most of which I had spent as a prisoner of the organisation that made me what I was. I recalled how we had vowed to get revenge, realising as I did so that, once that objective was achieved, there would be no need for us to remain Pokemon hybrids.

"I know," said Alex. "Me too. Anyway, think Birch'll be able to help us?"

I shrugged. "We can only hope. But we can't try to change back until we know Proteus won't bother us again . . ."

As if simply mentioning Proteus had tempted fate, my eyes were suddenly drawn to something moving in the shadows. I ran back to where the others were waiting. "Crystal! Zeod! Matt!" I shouted. "Everyone, there's someone waiting to ambush us!"

* * *

**Zeod**

"What is it?" I asked hastily. I had been trying to see if I could figure out what made the stuff in the vial. "Ambush?"

Then, I took off runnning. Without even looking where I was aiming, I shot a Flamethrower at the place Alana was looking at.

* * *

**Alana**

"Argh!"

A scream issued from the trees where Zeod had aimed his Flamethrower, swiftly followed by the appearance of a plump brown-haired man. He was wearing a lab coat and he seemed to be on fire. "Oh crap!" groaned Zeod, realising (as did I) that this was no Proteus agent. He seemed familiar, although I couldn't quite place where I'd seen him before . . .

"Matt, do something!" I hissed, turning in the direction of our Swampert hybrid.

Matt did not need telling twice. He used his Water Gun to put out the flames and the man soon stood blinking at us, his lab coat charred black. "Who . . . What are you!" he gasped, his eyes wide with amazement. Mind you, I probably be amazed if I saw a bunch of Pokemon hybrids standing in front of me.

I elected to speak for the group. "I'm Alana," I said. "And these are my friends." I introduced everyone by name, before adding: "As for what we are, we're hybrids - part human and part Pokemon."

"And how did you get this way?" The man's tone conveyed genuine interest, as opposed to morbid curiousity.

I sighed. "It's a long story. But it all started with an organisation called Proteus . . ." Then, I told our story up until this moment. "We thought you might be out to ambush us," I explained. "That's why Zeod attacked you."

"That's all right, Alana - it's understandable you should be a little on edge after what you've been through." He looked at each of us in turn. "I'm Professor Birch, by the way. I'm out here studying the local Pokemon and . . ."

I interupted him before he could finish his sentence. "If you're Professor Birch, maybe you could help us. Zeod, give him the vial you found."

Zeod did so. Professor Birch examined it for a moment, before asking us what it was.

"We think it might help us get back to normal," explained Ruby. "But we need you to examine it before we can be sure."

"I'll need to take it back to the lab," replied Birch, pocketing the vial. "But it shouldn't take too long to figure out what this is . . ." He paused and looked at us all. "Maybe you'd better come with me." We tensed; even if he wasn't a Proteus scientist, we'd all had enough of labs to last us a lifetime. "Come now, I'm not going to hurt you," he laughed. "I want to help you."

* * *

**Zeod**

"Is there anyway I can help?" I offered once we were at the lab. "I may not be a big shot scientist, but I made some blueprints that may help . . ." But, then, I realised that Birch would probably want to concentrate on it so I just backed off.


	9. Chapter Nine

**

Chapter Nine

**

Alana

We decided to leave Birch to it and went to explore the grounds of his laboratory. I watched as Atsuko, Ruby and Esther took to the air and flew off to join some of the Flying Pokemon. Meanwhile, Matt and Tanya dived into the lake and the rest of us just walked round looking at all the Pokemon.

There were Pokemon everywhere we turned and, luckily, none of them seemed too concerned about us - at least they didn't try to attack. I was approached by a curious little Skitty, but that's about it. It was so peaceful here, a marked contrast with all the fighting we had been doing lately, and I wished we could stay forever.

But, as with many things, this was not meant to be. Suddenly, Ruby came winging down, with Atsuko and Esther hot on her heels. The second I saw them, I knew we had trouble.

"What's going on?" I asked, looking up from where I was watching a Vulpix and a Jolteon playing together.

"Alana!" shouted Atsuko. "Proteus agents waiting in ambush!"

At first, I didn't believe it; we'd only recently had a false alarm. But the urgent tone in his voice soon convinced me that it was true. "Crap, crap and double crap!" I muttered. "Why can't they just leave us alone!"

"Where are they?" asked Tanya, swimming to the shore of the lake and climbing out of the water. Matt followed her.

"Outside," replied Esther. "We . . ." She nodded towards Atsuko and Ruby " . . . were flying around when we saw them."

In answer to further questioning, Atsuko, Ruby and Esther told us they had seen a black limousine rolling up to Birch's front door, escorted by men on motorbikes. The limo's numberplate was PR0 TEU2, the personalised numberplate belonging to our old "friend", Number 1. Why no-one had ever made the connection between it and the creation of human/Pokemon hybrids was something I didn't know.

Just then, Birch came rushing outside and asked us what was going on; a man in a grey suit had just knocked on his front door and demanded to know the whereabouts of some hybrids. "Get inside and lock the door!" I hissed. "We'll handle the goons."

"Are you sure I can't help you in any way?" Birch asked.

"Yes - keep working on that vial," replied Heather. "Besides, it's us they want."

* * *

**Zeod**

I was having a conversation with some Ponyta when I heard a commotion. In a panic, the Ponyta ran off. Then, I saw a limo pulling up.

"Hello, misplaced aggression!" I said as I charged, ready for revenge.

* * *

**Alana**

Number 1 stepped out of his limo, looking absolutely full of himself. As I looked at that face I hated so much, I wondered what exactly he was playing at. Why would he and his goons pull up in broad daylight? Wasn't it asking to be exposed?

"So," he said, gazing round at all of us. "You kids think you're clever, do you? Think you can outsmart me? Well, I've got news for you . . ."

"And I don't want to hear it!" I retorted, powering up a Shadowball. "Quick, everyone!" I shouted to my fellow hybrids. "Let 'em have it!" We would, I realised, never have a better opportunity than this. The Proteus labs were destroyed and the man who had started it all stood right in front of us.

Matt and Tanya each fired an Ice Beam, targetting the limo and freezing its wheels. I smiled to myself; if nothing else, we had at least prevented Number 1 from making a quick getaway. But that still left us with the problem of the goons on motorbikes. The bikes had to be disabled somehow . . .

"Target the bikes!" I shouted, watching with satisfaction as my Shadowball caught Number 1 full in the chest. I had no Attacks that could deal with the bikes, but I was willing to bet some of the others did.

I was right. Suddenly, two of the bikes unseated their riders and roared off into the distance; glancing round, I saw Crystal and Luke standing with their eyes closed and immediately guessed what must have happened. Our Psychic hybrids had used their powers to take control of the bikes. Seconds later, another bike was hit by a blast of fire - Zeod. Then, two more succumbed to Tanya and Matt's Water Attacks.

Soon, all Proteus' vehicles had been neutralised. But that still left us with the problem of taking out the agents themselves. This was it. This was what we had vowed to do from the start - destroy Proteus once and for all. But would we be able to pull it off?

* * *

**Zeod**

"You dare come to the one place where we are happy and try to kill us again! That also, cannot go unpunished!" I said as I charged for Number 1, fists ablaze. My eyes were a new shade of red, a shade of hatred. I was going to kick the crud out of Number 1 for all I could get in.

* * *

**Alana**

I turned to a nearby Proteus agent and glared hard at him. "Say your prayers!" I snarled as I focused all my energy into forming a huge Shadowball. That was fast becoming my favourite Attack; the ball of black energy seemed to symbolise the evil that was Proteus and, by throwing it at them, I felt I was effectively throwing back all the wrongs they had done.

The guy I targetted had no time to react. My Shadowball struck home, catching him full in the chest and knocking him flying. I walked over to where he lay prone on the ground and aimed a hefty kick at his worthless hide. "How d'you like that!" I demanded. "You guys think you can control us! Well, I've got news for you, buster - no-one controls Alana Willis!"

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw the others battling the rest of the agents. Two of them were (courtesy of Crystal and Luke) dangling in mid-air with their trousers round their ankles; I had to suppress a grin at the sight of them. Meanwhile, Tanya and Matt had managed to freeze two more, while Atsuko, Ruby and Esther launched wave after wave of Flying Attacks. Currently, they flew in a v-formation, ready to divebomb our enemies. Then, I saw Zeod advancing on Number 1, his fist ablaze . . .

It was as if something had snapped inside me. Before I could stop myself, I ran at him and knocked him to one side.

"Hey!" he said. "What gives!"

"Number 1 is mine, Zeod!" I said grimly. God! What was I saying! Was I really so obsessed with taking out this guy that I couldn't bear to see anyone else do it? Had I just let my desire for revenge cloud my judgement?

I did not have long to wonder before the agents, having recovered from our initial assault, regrouped and pulled out their stun guns. Those guns were bad news for us; we had all experienced the jarring pain of the bolts that were fired through them. Still, we were not beaten yet . . .

"Use distance Attacks!" I called to my fellow hybrids. "We've gotta disarm them!"

* * *

**Zeod**

"I'm surprised our bodies haven't become immune to them after so many uses," I said as I saw the stun guns. It was partly serious, but mostly joking. In any case, I was using my fire to try to melt them.

Then, I got hit in the back. "Well, I was wrong . . ." I muttered as I collapsed.

* * *

**Alana**

I hurried over to Zeod. "Are you all right?" I asked anxiously.

He nodded shakily. "Yeah, I think so. Let's take 'em out!" With that, he staggered to his feet and launched a Flamethrower at several agents. That was just typical of Zeod; it would take more than a Proteus stun gun to bring him down.

Meanwhile, Belinda had come up with a particularly effective strategy for dealing with the stun guns. She was using her Vine Whip, sending two long vines snaking out from the flower on her shoulders and using them to grab the guns from the dumbstruck agents. Then, she would toss them across the field outside Birch's lab. Elsewhere, Crystal and Luke were using their Psychic abilities to levitate the guns out of their owners' hands. And, Atsuko, Ruby and Esther could fly, so they would have little problem dodging the bolts that were being fired at us.

But the rest of us had to constantly stay on our toes to avoid getting hit. We kept running in zigzag patterns, ready to hide behind the bushes if necessary. Not all of us, though - Heather was duking it out with a female Proteus agent, launching Attack after Attack and shouting just about every swear word ever invented. Again and again, she lashed out with her barbed tail. Again and again, the Proteus woman dodged, prompting an outburst of cussing from Heather.

I grew worried. "She can't handle all of them!" I cried. "I've got to help her!" With that, I ran over to Heather and her opponent, readying a Shadowball as I did so. "Heather!" I shouted as I drew level with them. "What are you doing!"

"Having a picnic in the park - what's it look like!" she spat, staring at me with that snaky look of hers. She brushed me aside and fixed the same gaze on her opponent.

I was worried. As a Seviper hybrid, Heather was tough, but there was no way she could take on all the Proteus agents alone. No matter what she said, I had to help her. I took aim at the woman she was fighting and launched my Shadowball.

"Oi!" Heather shouted as the female agent was knocked to the ground. "What's gotten into you, Alana! That witch was mine!"

"I'm lending you a hand, you moron!" I shot back. "Why don't you . . .!"

I was cut off abruptly as three more Proteus agents appeared on the scene, their stun guns drawn. Before either of us could stop them, they fired, catching Heather full in the chest. She fell to the ground; even a tough Seviper hybrid couldn't possibly withstand the impact of three stun bolts.

I immediately felt bad. If only I hadn't interfered with her fight, she might not have been hit. But I had to take out as many Proteus agents as I could; the lust for revenge was taking over.

* * *

**Zeod**

"Hey, guys, I have a plan to take out a group of them at once," I said. "Alana, get some distance and fire a Shadowball. Then, I'll turn it into a fire ball. Crystal, use your Psychic Attack to control it. Then, have it go through them like a bowling ball through bowling pins."

If this worked, they would have a big decrease in their numbers.

* * *

**Alana**

"Good plan," I said to Zeod. A burning Shadowball would certainly heat things up around here. And, if Zeod was right, it should give those Proteus goons something to think about. Maybe, we would finally get our revenge . . . "But we're gonna need more people," I added. "Atsuko, you can use Fire Attacks too, can't you?"

Atsuko, who had been grappling with a burly goon, nodded.

"Good, then you can help Zeod. And . . ." I glanced round at the others. ". . . I'll need Alex and Luke to back Crystal up. The rest of you, keep fighting; we can't let them get away with what they did to us."

Alex and Luke nodded and took up position next to Crystal. I stood forward with Zeod and Atsuko flanking me, my arms folded across my chest as I bravely looked Number 1 in the eye. "Right, buster!" I said with righteous anger dripping from my voice. "We're gonna teach you a lesson you'll never forget - if you live through it!"

But his only response was to laugh mirthlessly. "Ha! You punk kids teach me a lesson! Don't you know there are Proteus cells all over the world? Even if you took my men out, you'd still have the rest of us to deal with!"

"And how exactly are they gonna find us?" demanded Belinda, who had a Proteus agent tangled in her Vine Whip.

"Easy - when we blended you kids with Pokemon, we implanted a small microchip into each of you. That's how we've been tracking you."

I digested this news in silence. It didn't please me, but I was hardly surprised by it. It was just like Number 1 to do something like that, something which meant that, even if we took out him and his men, we would still have other Proteus cells to worry about. The only way we would be safe was to find and remove the chips in each of us, but they could be anywhere and there wasn't time for that right now. We had work to do.

I pressed my hands together, but, before I could begin forming my Shadowball, I spotted something on the ground. I gasped; it was Heather, who was still down after getting hit by the stun guns. Even though this was our big chance to take Proteus out, I couldn't just leave her. I ran towards her and dropped to my knees.

"Heather?" I whispered, shaking her. I felt really bad, knowing it was my fault she got hit in the first place. "Heather, wake up!"

To my relief, she groaned and opened her eyes. "Alana?"

"Don't try to talk!" I warned. "We've got to get you away from here." I prepared to help her up, but, before I could do so, someone elbowed me out of the way.

"Allow me." It was Jason. I could hardly believe it; he and Heather normally hated each other simply because he was part Zangoose and she was part Seviper. Now, however, he was kneeling beside her, offering to support her as he helped her away from the scene of the battle. For once, she co-operated with him - or, maybe, she was too exhausted to argue.

I did not know. All I knew was that we still had a job to do. Once Jason and Heather were safely out of the line of fire, I ran back to my position, readying my Shadowball as I did so. "Now!" cried Zeod. I took aim and threw the Shadowball into the crowd of Proteus agents. Then, he and Atsuko took aim with their Flamethrowers, turning it into a ball of hot flames.

"Crystal! Luke! Alex!" I shouted.

In response, our two Psychic hybrids and our Ghost Hybrid used their Psychic Attack to take control of the ball of fire, sending it hurtling through the ranks of the Proteus agents while, at the same time, making sure none of our group got hit. I cheered as I saw several agents running around with their clothes on fire.

* * *

**Zeod**

"Oh, yeah! I told you it would work!" I said as our enemies ran around like Combuskens with their heads cut off. "And, about the chips, most small technological things can be burned out, like leeches," I explained.

By this time, Number 1 had gotten up and was attempting to flee. "Care to do the honors?" I asked Alana as I mounted her on my back again.

* * *

**Alana**

We finally had our chance. Number 1 was in our sights and all we had to do was use our Attacks to blast him to Kingdom Come. But, even as Zeod asked if I wanted to "do the honours", my conscience pricked me. I couldn't do it; no matter what Number 1 had done to us, he was still a human being. And no-one has the right to decide when a life should end . . .

"What are you waiting for!" cried Belinda, seeing my hesitation. "Finish him off!"

I shook my head and climbed down off Zeod. "I - I can't," I said in a barely audible voice.

Everyone looked at me incredulously, hardly able to believe what I was saying. After all I had said about Number 1, all the talk of getting revenge for what he did to us, why was I hesitating at this crucial moment? Why was I refusing the chance to finish him off once and for all? "What the hell are you talking about!" demanded James, who was grappling with two Proteus agents at once. "Weren't you the one who wanted to get revenge in the first place!"

I sighed - how could I make them understand. "I thought I did," I said simply. "But, now that it's come to it, I - I don't think I can kill him. It's not right."

* * *

**Zeod**

"Alana's right," I stated, coming to her defence. "Despite all he has done to us, we can't say it wasn't partly out fault. I mean, since we were traveling alone, we were supposed to be on our guard at all times. But we weren't - we let ourselves get captured."

* * *

**Alana**

The others were looking at me and Zeod incredulously, scarcely able to believe what we were saying. "Not right!" echoed Tanya, folding her flippers across her chest. "Hello! Have you forgotten everything he did to us? Have you forgotten how he turned us into hybrids?"

I sighed. How could I explain it? When I started this revenge thing, I knew we'd have to take Number 1 out one day, but, now that we finally had him cornered and alone (his goons fled after we used that flaming Shadowball) things didn't seem so simple. I'd never had to kill anything in my life before and I wasn't sure I could start now.

"If you won't, I will!" declared Esther. With that, she took off into the air, her head glowing as she prepared to launch one of the most devastating Pokemon Attacks known - Hyper Beam. Most of us knew that Attack, but, aside from the time Atsuko used it to blast our way out Proteus' HQ, none of us had actually used it. It was too powerful, too likely to draw unwelcome attention to us. And it also rendered its user unable to attack for a few moments afterwards . . .

There was little I could do to stop Esther. She was determined to go through with this and I was not a Flying hybrid so I couldn't stop her. But, before she could fire her Hyper Beam, there was a sudden zinging sound and she crashed to the ground. I looked and saw Number 1 standing there with a gun in his hand; clearly, he had been hiding it under his suit all the time.

"Esther!" I cried as I ran over to her and knelt beside her. She was alive, but she was losing blood fast; unless she was treated promptly, she would not make it. "What have you done to her!" I demanded, addressing Number 1, my old hatred of his organisation and everything it stood for returning in an instant. I felt a mixture of rage at the way in which Esther had been shot out of the sky and guilt over not having finished Number 1 when I had the chance. Then, as it had done in the battleroom, my rage translated itself into a blast of energy, knocking Number 1 to the ground.

"Whoa!" shouted James. "Great use of Frustration!"

I smiled evilly, my attention focused on the man I had just downed. This was only the second time I had used Frustration, that strange Attack which translates a Pokemon's negative feelings into a blast of energy, but I wasn't through yet. Number 1 was trying to get up, so I quickly ran at him and knocked him back down. He got up again, this time grabbing hold of me and pinning me to the ground.

"So?" He thrust his face into mine, causing me to gag at the smell of his stale breath. "You thought you'd try and take me on, did you? Well, no-one's going to stop me - certainly not a bunch of teenaged freaks!" With that, he raised the gun he had used to shoot Esther and pressed it against my head. "Say your prayers!"

In that moment, I knew what he planned to do. Because he'd failed to recapture us, he was going to kill us all one by one. I closed my eyes and waited . . .

But the gunshot that should have ended my life never came. Instead, I heard a strange cacophony of noises, followed by the thump of something heavy falling. What was happening? There was only one way to find out, so, with a great deal of effort, I opened my eyes and sat up. I was still alive; I knew this because I was aching all over and I had a small cut on my left arm. And all my fellow hybrids were here too, all except Esther . . .

"W - where's Esther?" I stammered, dreading the answer.

Zeod was at my side in an instant. "Shh! She's all right - Luke's using Recover to heal her." He reached down and helped me to my feet.

* * *

**Zeod**

"Here, get on. You look too weak to walk at the moment," I said as I got her onto my back.

"You know, you kind of look like that Conquerer Pokepolion on his Ponyta when you're up there." I added in an attempt to lighten the mood. It didn't seem to be working.

* * *

**Alana**

I tried to smile at Zeod's words, but I was too exhausted both physically and mentally. Suddenly, I realised something - where was Number 1? Why wasn't he still trying to catch and kill us?

"W - where'd Number 1 go?" I asked Crystal, the person nearest to me.

"Somewhere he won't bother us again." She turned her head in the direction of a freshly dug mound of earth, an unmarked grave, a fitting tribute to the man who had caused us all so much trouble.

"Yeah - and hopefully he's having tea with the Devil as we speak," Atsuko joked, muttering a hasty apology when he saw the looks on our faces. We stood in silence for a moment, before I spoke to ask what had happened.

"When he got you on the ground," Jason said, looking me in the face, "we knew we had to do something. But we were afraid in case any Attacks we used hit you as well. Then, I decided we had to risk it - so I used a Thunderbolt, hoping it would jar him enough to get him off you . . ."

"Only, Alex and James had the same idea," filled in Ruby, folding her wings across her chest. "And, then, a bunch of Electric Pokemon from Birch's lab ran into the fray and all used their Electric Attacks at once. I'm pretty sure that's what killed him." She glared down at the grave with an expression which clearly said she would like to peck Number 1's heart out.

What she said certainly made sense. Normally, an Electric Attack will stun you, but it won't actually kill except in rare cases. But, if, as had happened to Number 1, you get hit by lots of Electric Attacks at once, the combined voltage can reach fatal levels. But, then, why hadn't I been electrocuted too?

"You used an involuntary Protect," explained Zeod, as if reading my mind. "Just before all the Electric Attacks were fired - it must have shielded you . . ." He paused. "Anyway, Number 1's gone. So what do we do now?"

I climbed down off his back. "Go see if Birch has found out what that vial is," I replied. And, with that, we all headed in the direction of the lab, Matt carrying Esther who still needed time to recover fully but, thanks to Luke's timely intervention was not in any danger. And, if Zeod's hunch about that vial was right, none us would ever have to worry about Proteus again . . .

In the lab, Birch had some good news. "Well, kids," he told us, "I've analysed the substance in the vial and it's definitely a key ingredient for creating human/Pokemon hybrids. You see," he went on, "Proteus weren't the first group to try this kind of thing - such experiments have been tried before, only on a smaller scale and with more benign intentions." He got up and looked round at all of us. "It's easy enough to create an antidote, but there's no way to get you completely back to normal - you'll more than likely have some Pokemon characteristics for the rest of your lives."

"As for Proteus," he went on, "I've contacted the police - any surviving Proteus agents are now Wanted throughout Hoenn."

We exchanged glances, relieved that our ordeal finally seemed to be over. We had achieved what we had set out to do and destroyed the organisation which had made us what we were; their leader was dead and his followers were all on police Wanted lists. So, hopefully, none of them would dare try to start Proteus up again. And, if they did, we would be ready for them. With the Pokemon abilities we would retain even if we ceased to look like hybrids, we would fight until we emerged victorious.

Because, as they say, tomorrow is another day.


End file.
